Two recent Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) graduates have won major honours at the prestigious World Illustration Awards 2022, organised by the Association of Illustrators.
Kate Rolfe received the New Talent award in the Children’s Publishing Category for her work Navigating Dyslexia, while Carole Bouvier won the SAA Agents Award for New Talent for On a Spring Day.
Both Kate and Carole graduated this year from ARU’s world-leading Children’s Book Illustration MA course, based at the Cambridge School of Art.
Kate’s latest success has capped an outstanding year for the Suffolk-based artist, having featured prominently in the Batsford, Macmillan and Walker prizes, and having won the V&A Student Illustrator of the Year award in July.
Explaining her Navigating Dyslexia work, Kate said: “This was a very personal project based on my own experiences. Although it feels vulnerable to share something like this – my dyslexia is something I have previously tried to hide – it's quite liberating to enter it!
“Because of the personal nature of the piece, I have been really surprised that so many people – dyslexics and non-dyslexics – have reached out to say how much this resonates with them.
“It was a huge honour to win the New Talent Award in the Children’s Publishing category. I have been blown away by the support that my work has received this year and it is incredibly encouraging that work on these topics is being celebrated. I look forward to developing my projects further with my publisher, and hope to share more about these with people very soon.”
Carole Bouvier moved to Cambridge following a long career in the film industry in Paris, and her Society of Artists Agents (SAA) Agents Award success comes with a six-month representation from a leading illustration agent, as well as mentoring and career development.
Carole, whose work On a Spring Day was also highly commended in the Children’s Publishing New Talent Category, sponsored by Walker Books, said: “I am immensely grateful to the Association of Illustrators and to their partners for giving visibility to my work with the World Illustration Awards.
“I have never felt more proud than being alongside so many talented artists. This exposure and the resulting SAA Award are now allowing me to get advice and mentorship from an agent, which is the most precious reward I could have hoped for as an emerging artist.
“I am also very grateful to Cambridge School of Art, and especially to MA Children's Book Illustration course leader Shelley Jackson and all the incredible tutors for encouraging me in moments of doubt and for always pushing me further on this journey.”
Judge Caroline Thomson, of the Arena Illustration agency, said: “Carole’s entry really stood out and we were all very impressed with her strong compositions, use of colour and her visual storytelling – On a Spring Day is a fresh approach at picture book illustration.
“Carole’s imagery has personality and she shows a sensitivity to the subject matter. We believe her work has a broad commercial appeal that could be applied to all manner of creative solutions. She’s a worthy winner!”
Shelley Jackson, Associate Professor and Course Leader for the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at ARU, said: “I’m so proud of Kate and Carole, and all 20 of our students who were longlisted and shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards this year. Both Kate and Carole have shown tremendous dedication to their craft which has led them to create innovative and lovely artwork. I’m so pleased that AOI has recognised them through these awards.”
Alongside the recent World Illustration Awards success, 10 graduates from ARU’s Children’s Book Illustration MA course, along with ARU lecturer Pam Smy, have been nominated for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2023. The shortlist for the prize, previously known as the Kate Greenaway Medal, will be announced in March, with the overall winner named in June 2023.
Top image: Kate Rolfe with her trophy
