Cybils winners (late posting - sorry)

In what has become my usual a-bit-behind way, I wanted to say that the Cybils Award has been announced, and we judges in the graphic novel category came up with our winners. Big congrats to American Born Chinese (13 and up) and Amelia Rules! SuperHeroes (12 and under) for taking top prizes.







We had some interesting discussion in the judging process, and the biggest debate was between American Born Chinese and Castle Waiting. In the end we did opt for ABC, but I wanted to also give Castle Waiting a plug. This is a fantastic fairy tale-inspired graphic novel - one which I cherished while I read it. It's an artistic, feminist-inspired, romp through the lives of various characters - my favorite being the convent of bearded nuns with pet lions.





In our 12 and under category, the top three contenders were Amelia Rules, To Dance and Babymouse. And again, I want to put in a special mention for To Dance, which I thought was a beautifully-crafted autobiographical graphic novel about a girl whose passion is the ballet. I particularly liked the memory-like feel of it, shifting from one moment to the next. And Babymouse: Beach Babe is just plain fun!



So there's a bit of behind-the-scenes on the judging. It wasn't that difficult in the end to agree on the winners, but fun to work through the possibilities and defend our choices. And a treat to read all these totally different graphic novels...

Interview on Southern Counties Radio

Last minute announcement - tomorrow (Tuesday, 13th Feb.), I'm going to be interviewed on BBC Southern Counties Radio. I've been told it will be at 9:40am on the Gordon Astley show. They are running a writing competition called Monsters and Magic , in which people can submit a 300 word story about monsters by 23rd February. I was asked when I spoke at The Space last week, and am happy to have a chance to plug the upcoming Brighton Children's Book Festival, to take place on April 21st at Brighton University. If the link to the festival doesn't work yet, it should at any moment. We're going to start to take bookings on March 1st.

For a teaser, here are some of the people who will be participating at the festival:
Nick Tucker, Nicky Singer, William Nicholson, Emily Gravett, John Vernon Lord

Plus there will be a panel on getting published, and workshops on writing for children, illustrating for children, creating pop-ups, creating non-fiction books, and more. It will cost £25 full price with some concessions options. Watch this space, or continue to visit The South's website to get updates.