Faber & Faber, working together with the Andlyn Literary Agency, have recently launched an award to find BAME children’s writers and illustrators. The purpose of the Faber Andlyn BAME Prize (FAB) is for any unpublished UK or Irish children’s authors who come from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds. And the text and illustrations from authors have begun to be judged since 9th December 2016 by Davinia Andrew-Lynch, founder of the Andlyn Literary Agency, and three Faber members of staff. Four prizes will be awarded and all four winners will receive a selection of Faber Books. It will close on 6th April 2017, the winner will be announced on the1st June.

Andrew-Lynch said: “We know that young readers greatly benefit from books which reflect the society in which they live, and that such books provide a clearer understanding of the world around them. To meaningfully change the output of our market we need to reach out beyond the usual publishing spheres and directly find those writers and illustrators who may, for whatever reason, have not been given a voice within our industry.”

In my opinion this competition is quite meaningful, as more excellent BAME authors, stories, and illustrations will be found via this award. The number of new talents never decreases, they just didn’t have a chance to show their professional skills and passion. This competition can also be seen a platform to select talented BAME authors and illustrators for the publishing industry, that really makes sense.

What’s more, many publishers said that they were actively seeking authors from diverse backgrounds, so they may get some author’s information and acquire satisfying works by this time. It is a precious opportunity for children to look at books with different perspectives and cultures they have never read, which is good for them to understand the world from many kinds of views at an early age. In fact, the public want to hear diverse voices coming to express a variety of thoughts, and these voices are necessary for the developments of our society.

Images: http://www.thebookseller.com/news/faber-launches-competition-bame-children-s-authors-446071

by Yao Huang