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EMBARGOED UNTIL 19.30 pm Wednesday 14th July 2010

BRANFORD BOASE AWARD: 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCED

Stolen by Lucy Christopher, edited by Imogen Cooper and published by Chicken House, won the 2010 Branford Boase Award, which is given each year to the most outstanding work of fiction for children by a first time novelist.

Told in a moving letter to her captor, sixteen year old Gemma relives her kidnapping from Bangkok airport while on holiday. Taken by a troubled young man to the wild and desolate Australian Outback , she reflects on a landscape from which there is no escape. A story of survival, love and darkness, Gemma reveals how she had to deal with the nightmare or die trying to fight it. Stolen is a sensitive, compelling and intense novel with a great sense of place. It is an extremely confident debut.

Lucy Christopher was born in Wales but grew up in Australia. Ever since her childhood she has been fascinated by the awesome landscapes of the Outback. She is 29 years old, lives in Cardiff and teaches part-time on the creative writing MA at Bath University. Lucy is currently undertaking a PhD to explore the ways that Australian literature represents wild places, particularly in its writing for young adults. Stolen was written as part of this PhD.

The Branford Boase Award was set up to encourage new writers and is given each year to the most promising work of fiction for children by a debut novelist. The Branford Boase also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.

The delighted winner said, “I am absolutely thrilled to win this year's Branford Boase Award. It means such a lot to me that Stolen has been recognised in this prestigious award.  The other books are fantastic and really stiff competition, so what an honour to be chosen!  Of course, I'm equally thrilled that I'm sharing this award with my editor, Imogen, too....she's the bee’s knees!"

Lucy’s editor, Imogen Cooper, added, 'I am absolutely thrilled to have won this award, and to win with Lucy, whose work I so greatly admire, is a great joy. The Chicken House has a firmly held belief in the importance of nurturing new talent - as you can see by the fact that we have won the prize three times now! - and I have always aspired to win the Branford Boase. I hope I shall go on to help more and more brilliant new writers achieve their potential and enrich the lives of children and young adults.'

The Branford Boase judging panel has a very strong track record of selecting future best-selling and critically acclaimed authors. Previous winning writers include Marcus Sedgwick, Meg Rosoff, Kevin Brooks and Mal Peet.

This year’s judging panel included Helen Boyle, editor of tBk magazine, Tricia Adams, executive director of the School Library Association, John Newman, children’s buyer at the Newham Bookshop and Chair of the Booksellers Association’s Children’s Bookselling Group and B R Collins, author of The Traitor Game, winner of last year’s Branford Boase Award. The panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare, children’s books editor of The Guardian.

Julia Eccleshare says: ‘Stolen is a wonderfully accomplished first novel. Sure-footed and without a word wasted Lucy has created a fantastic sense of place. Intense, vivid and very cleverly told Stolen is a worthy winner.

At the ceremony at Walker Books in London, former Children’s Laureate, Jacqueline Wilson, presented Lucy Christopher with a cheque for £1,000 and both she and editor Imogen Cooper also received a unique, hand-crafted, silver-inlaid box.

For further information please contact Elaine McQuade on 07860 701294 or emcquade@tiscali.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

The annual Branford Boase Award celebrates the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards written by a first-time novelist and highlights the importance of the editor in the development of new authors. The shortlisted authors may have published other books in another genre – for example, poetry or a picture book – but eligibility for the prize requires that this is their first children’s novel. In addition to drawing attention to fresh talent in the field of children’s books and encouraging publishers to find and promote new writers, the Award sets out to alert readers of all ages to the work of interesting newcomers.

In 1999, the year of the first award, only 20 titles were submitted. This year almost 60 submissions were made.

The Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of the outstanding and prize-winning author Henrietta Branford and of Wendy Boase, editorial director and one of the founders of Walker Books. They worked together on a number of Henrietta’s novels, a partnership they greatly enjoyed. Both Henrietta and Wendy died of cancer in 1999.

The other titles on the 2010 shortlist were

Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda, edited by Lindsey Heaven (Puffin)

Life, Interrupted by Damian Kelleher, edited by Anne Clark (Piccadilly Press)

Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera, edited by Shannon Park (Puffin)

Big and Clever by Dan Tunstall, edited by Ross Bradshaw (Five Leaves)

Numbers by Rachel Ward, edited by Imogen Copper (Chicken House)

Paradise Barn by Victor Watson, edited by Leonie Pratt (Catnip)
 

The Award is the joint idea of Julia Eccleshare and Anne Marley. Julia is the children’s books editor of The Guardian and a regular contributor to Radio 4’s Front Row and Open Book programmes. Anne is Head of Children’s, Youth & Schools Services for Hampshire Library & Information Service. She has served on many children’s book award panels, including the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Awards.

Jacqueline Wilson also presented prizes at the ceremony to six children, winners of, the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, which encourages writing talent in under 18s. Further information on this can be found at www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk

For more information about the award and the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition visit www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk .

Publicity pictures and an author biography are available on request. For more details, or to arrange interviews, please contact Elaine, McQuade on 07860 701294 or email: emcquade@tiscali.co.uk.

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