The Society of Authors today announces the shortlists for their awards including the ADCI Literary Prize, the Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize and the Queen’s Knickers Award.
The winners of all of the awards, to be announced on 20 June at Southwark Cathedral, will share a prize fund of over £140,000. The awards ceremony will be presented by Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin and keynote speaker Kate Mosse. Tickets to the in-person event can be purchased here. The event will be livestreamed. Online attendance is free with RSVP available via this link.
Winners of the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award, the Betty Trask Prize, the Paul Torday Memorial Prize, the McKitterick Prize, the Travelling Scholarships, Cholmondeley Awards, Eric Gregory Awards and Somerset Maugham Awards will also be announced on the night.
ADCI Literary Prize
Sponsored by Arts Council England, the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society(ALCS), the Drusilla Harvey Memorial Fund, and the Professional Writing Academy, the ADCI Literary Prize is awarded to a disabled or chronically ill writer, for an outstanding novel containing a disabled or chronically ill character or characters.
This year it is judged by Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Penny Batchelor, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Julia Lund, Karl Knights, Selina Mills, Vikki Patis and Chloe Timms. The total prize fund is £2,000.
- All the Little Bird Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
- Mother Sea by Lorraine Wilson
Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize
The Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize is awarded to a UK or Irish writer, or a writer currently resident in those countries, for a novel focusing on the experience of travel away from home. In memory of Malcolm Lowry and endowed by Gordon Bowker, his biographer, and Ramdei Bowker.
This year’s judges are Aamer Hussein, Yara Rodrigues Fowler and Kerry Young. The total prize fund is £2,750.
- Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
- One Small Voice by Santanu Bhattacharya
- Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin
- Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel
Queen’s Knickers Award
Sponsored by its founder Nicholas Allan, the Queen’s Knickers Award is an annual prize for an outstanding children’s original illustrated book for ages 0-7. It recognises books that strike a quirky, new note and grab the attention of a child, whether in the form of curiosity, amusement, horror or excitement.
Judged by Salomey Doku, Chris Haughton and Cerrie Burnell. The total prize fund is £6,000.
- 5 Minute Nature Stories by Gabby Dawnay and Mona K
- Afterward, Everything Was Different by Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng
- Luminous by Julia Kuo
- People Need People by Benjamin Zephaniah and Nila Aye
- Teddy’s Midnight Adventure by Yoko Mori
- The Gecko and the Echo by Rachel Bright and Jim Field
- The Squirrel and the Lost Treasure by Coralie Bickford-Smith
Get involved
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What do you think of the 2024 shortlisted titles? Which have you read and what will be added to your TBR pile? Add your comments below, or click any title above to leave a review.
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