Frances Lincoln Limited and Seven Stories, The Centre for Children’s Books have announced that they have created an award in memory of Frances Lincoln (1945 – 2001).

The purpose of the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award is to:

• Take positive steps to increase the representation of people writing from or about different cultural perspectives, whose work is published in Britain today.
• Promote new writing for children, especially by or about people whose culture and voice are currently under-represented.
• Recognise that as children’s books shape our earliest perceptions of the world and its cultures, promoting writing that represents diversity will contribute to social and cultural tolerance.
• Support the process of writing rather than, as with the majority of prizes, promoting the publication.

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award is for a manuscript that celebrates cultural diversity in the widest possible sense, either in terms of its story or in terms of the ethnic and cultural origins of its author. The prize of £1,500, plus the option for Frances Lincoln Children’s Books to publish the novel, will be awarded to the best work of unpublished fiction for 8-to-12-year-olds by a writer, aged 16 years or over, who has not previously published a novel for children.The writer may have contributed to an anthology of prose or poetry.The work must be written in English and it must be a minimum of 10,000 words and a maximum of 30,000 words.

The closing date for all entries is 30th January 2009. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony at Seven Stories,The Centre for Children’s Books, in April 2009.

The distinguished panel of judges includes:

• Trevor Phillips - Chair of The Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Jake Hope – Children’s Librarian for Lancashire Libraries, and a freelance consultant
• Geraldine Brennan – Journalist and former Books Editor at the Times Educational Supplement
• Janetta Otter-Barry – Editorial Director, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
• Mary Briggs – Co-Founder of Seven Stories,The Centre for Children’s Books

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award is supported by Frances Lincoln Limited and Arts & Business.

For entry forms contact: diversevoices@sevenstories.org.uk

Or telephone Helena McConnell at Seven Stories on 0845 271 0777

www.franceslincoln.com