We are delighted to announce that two of our lovely authors and their editors, Elle McNicoll & Eishar Kaur and Jenni Spangler & Jane Griffiths, have been longlisted for the 2021 Branford Boase Award!
The longlist for the 2021 Branford Boase Award is announced today (Thursday 28 January 2021). Set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase, one of the founders of Walker Books, the Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. It has a notable record in picking out the most talented authors at the start of their career. Past winners and shortlisted authors have included Siobhan Dowd, Meg Rosoff, Mal Peet, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Patrick Ness as well as Frances Hardinge, M G Leonard and Philip Reeve.
Uniquely, the Branford Boase Award also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.
Despite the challenges of 2020, more than 60 books were submitted; 25 have made it onto the longlist, making it the longest in the award’s history. These include poet Patience Agbabi’s The Infinite, Wranglestone by Darren Charlton and The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson, both shortlisted for the Costa Book Award, and A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll, recently announced as Blackwell’s Book of the Year. Previous winning editors on this year’s longlist include Sarah Odedina (2020 winner), and Rebecca Hill and Becky Walker (2018 winners).