Talented graduates from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) have scooped five of the six places on the shortlist for this year’s prestigious Klaus Flugge Prize.
The annual award, which comes with a cash prize of £5,000, celebrates the most promising newcomers in the world of children’s picture book illustration.
Five graduates from ARU’s world-leading Children’s Book Illustration MA course were named on this year’s shortlist, which was announced at a live event at Waterstones Piccadilly.
The ARU graduates are Adam Beer (Mammoth, Simon and Schuster), Flora Delargy (Rescuing Titanic, Wide Eyed Editions), Joseph Hollis (Pierre's New Hair, Tate), Padmacandra (The Tale of the Whale, Scallywag Press) and Anne Roos Kleiss, aka Roozeboos (Choices, Child’s Play), and they are joined on the shortlist by Ricky Trickartt (Alley Cat Rally, Flying Eye Books).
Shelley Jackson, Associate Professor and Course Leader for the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at ARU, said: “It is so rewarding to see graduates from our course go on to achieve success with their published work. We are very proud of the five that have made the Klaus Flugge Prize shortlist and we will be watching their future careers with great interest.”
Julia Eccleshare, the Director of the Hay Children’s Festival, is the Chair of the judging panel. Julia said: “Our judges have selected a shortlist full of humour, drama, beauty and big ideas. “We can see in these six books values that are intrinsic to so many of the picture books published by Klaus Flugge: empathy, diversity, a child-centredness and a generosity of spirit. The illustrators’ ability as artists and storytellers is very exciting. Post-pandemic, picture books are booming.”
The prize was established in 2016 to honour Klaus Flugge, the founder of leading independent children’s publishers Andersen Press. The winner of this year’s prize will be announced on Wednesday, 14 September.
Image: Choices cover - Roozeboos
