• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

The fifth anthology of unpublished children’s fiction and illustration by SCBWI British Isles and Europe members published by The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators British Isles and Working Partners Ltd 2016 CONTENTS CLICKING ON THE ENTRIES BELOW WILL TAKE YOU TO THE RELEVANT PAGE FROM SALLY GARDNER 3 FROM SCBWI BRITISH ISLES 5 FROM WORKING PARTNERS 7 SPECIAL THANKS FROM THE CO-CREATORS 8 THE ILLUSTRATORS 10 Andrea Ipaktchi 11 Esther Garcia Peces 13 Mary Hays 15 Portia Rosenberg 17 John Morgan 19 Lucy Farfort 21 Bing Wang 23 Katie Weymouth 25 Deborah Partington 27 THE WRITERS 29 OUT OF THE BLUE by Sophie Cameron 30 SPYDERS: FLASH & THE CAGEY BEES by Heather Newton 42 REQUIEM by Patti Buff 53 THE UNWILLING GODDESS by Relly Annett-Baker 64 STEEL TANYA by Anna Bowles 76 SECRET MAGIC: THE THREAD FAIRY ADVENTURES 86 by Kerry Cassidy NUTS by Simon James Green 99 THE EVOLUTION OF YOU AND ME by Rose Margaret Deniz 112 GIRL CHURNS UP TROUBLE by Susan Brownrigg 124 CLOPWYCK RIVER by Georgia Bowers 137 THE CHINATOWN CAT by Emma Dowson 149 THE HUNT IS ON by Catherine Miller 160 HONORARY MENTIONS 172 ISBN: 978-1-326-49832-0 COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All works contained herein are copyrighted by their respective authors. No reproduction of any kind is permitted without the owner’s written permission. FROM SALLY GARDNER, HONORARY CHAIR I wonder what would have happened in today’s world to this young man who had a headful of stories and very little education. Between the ages of nine and eleven he spent about a year at William Giles’s School in Chatham, Kent, and from thirteen to fifteen he attended Wellington House Academy in London. Otherwise, he was self-educated. He wanted to be a political reporter and work for The Times newspaper, he wanted to publish his stories. Had he been born in this age, I doubt if he would have made it through the doors of The Times without being crushed in the stampede of university graduates. Due to his chronic lack of qualifications the world would have lost one of its greatest writers, Charles Dickens. Perhaps his salvation would have been to have had a story published in Undiscovered Voices. Imagination is the first requisite to becoming a writer. It helps if you can spell, it also helps if you understand grammar. But neither of these abilities make s you a great writer. Let me put it another way: everyone can sing – albeit badly in some cases. Some people are only appreciated by showerheads and bath taps while others pump out a good tune in the car where the song is drowned out by traffic noise. But then there are those who sing and when they do, people stop to listen. Sing it again. Sing it again. That is what writing is about: it’s a voice you want to hear, an original voice telling a heartfelt story. Someone asked me what I would do if I didn’t write. I think I would be sectioned and quietly forgotten. Writing is the way I make sense of a nonsensical world and every day I practise at my keypad in the hope that my words sing out. Being a writer is not a guarantee of financial success, but that’s not what this game is all about. If you’re in it for that, my advice is get out fast. You are a writer because there’s nothing else you want to be. Because you have a headful of stories that need to be told. 3 This is a great place for your voice to be heard. The more diverse and different the voices are, the richer this world will be. Some of my books have been recorded and I have found that the voice of an actor often enriches my work, bringing something new and exciting to it. Good illustrations have the same effect. When I was an illustrator, I was never satisfied with my drawings. In my head they always looked different and I always felt they could have been done a hundred times better by someone else. Things have changed so much; technology has moved in and made the life of an illustrator easier and at the same time harder. In the end, regardless of all the tricks one can do on a computer, it is the authentic drawing that appeals. Years ago I met Shirley Hughes and she asked me if I could draw figures. I replied that I could, that I’d been to art school and spent two years doing life class. She said, rather sadly, that she thought not enough students attended life class or understood the importance of it. I agree with Shirley and believe no matter what style you develop as an illustrator, the understanding of the human form is essential. An illustrator has to be a mirror for the author and at the same time bring out what is not written. When I work with David Roberts I know there are certain things I do not need to describe because his drawings will do that work for me. A clever illustrator finds the spaces between the lines. I sincerely hope that we are witnessing the beginning of a renaissance in illustration – not just in children’s books but adult books as well. For me there is nothing more divine than seeing a block of text in a book broken up by an image. But the art of being a great illustrator is to know what images to leave out and what images to include. An illustration should be an engine that drives the story forward, making the reader want to turn the page. All of you whose stories and illustrations are included in this anthology have succeeded in making the judges want to turn the page. Congratulations. Keep writing, keep drawing. Keep dreaming. Sally Gardne r 4 FROM SCBWI BRITISH ISLES Welcome to Undiscovered Voices 2016, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ (SCBWI) fifth anthology of undiscovered writers and illustrators. The SCBWI is a professional network for the exchange of knowledge and ideas amongst writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers and others involved with literature for children and young people. There are currently 22,000 members worldwide, in over seventy regions, making it the largest global children’s writing organisation. Membership benefits include professional development and networking opportunities, marketing information, events, publications, online marketing opportunities, awards and grants. This year is SCBWI British Isles region’s twentieth birthday – and we have a lot to celebrate. Having started with just a handful of members and quarterly meetings, SCBWI BI now offers more than thirty events, plus meet-ups and critique groups around the region, catering to more than 850 members. Its programming includes retreats, masterclasses, a fabulous blog newsletter, a two-day annual conference, plus professional development, marketing and networking opportunities to support and inspire published and unpublished writers and illustrators as they develop their careers. Our fun, welcoming community of passionate individuals is committed to creating innovative initiatives for members today and in the future. We are really proud and excited to have Undiscovered Voices as one of our flagship programmes for helping new authors and illustrators to get discovered by editors, art directors, agents and publishers. The road to being published is a tough creative journey, requiring perseverance, talent and often a bit of luck. We hope that Undiscovered Voices can be that lucky matchmaking charm for some of our members. The first four Undiscovered Voices anthologies have an amazing track record: 32 of the selected authors and illustrators have received publishing 5 contracts for more than 120 books. These have been honoured with nominations and included on prestigious literary lists, including the Blue Peter book award, the Barnes and Noble top teen book, the American Library Association Best Book for Young Readers, Borders Book of the Month, Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, Crystal Kite Award and the Branford Boase First Novel award. Congratulations to all the longlisted and shortlisted authors and illustrators! We are excited to see what the 2016 Undiscovered Voices will achieve. The SCBWI would like to thank the anthology’s hardworking, enthusiastic team of editors and judges. We are also extremely grateful to Working Partners for their continued dedication and generous funding of this exciting project. Natascha Biebow Regional Advisor (Chair) SCBWI, British Isles region www.britishisles.scbwi.org 6 FROM WORKING PARTNERS Working Partners is thrilled to sponsor the fifth Undiscovered Voices anthology, nearly ten years after Sara Grant and Sara O’Connor first approached us with the idea for a competition to find and encourage new voices in children’s literature. We are very proud to be able to say that we’ve played a small part in each of the 120 books published by the illustrators and writers from the Undiscovered Voices anthologies, including several who are represented by our own Greenhouse Literary Agency. A writing or illustration career can seem like an impossible dream, when all you have is an idea and raw talent, and getting the attention of publishers in a crowded marketplace can be nearly impossible. That’s why we’re so happy that Undiscovered Voices has made itself a reputation as an anthology full of exciting new talent, where the industry’s top agents and editors know they might find their next big discovery. Once again, this is all down to the hard work and inspiration of SCBWI, Sara Grant and the Undiscovered Voices team. They deserve our praise and gratitude for all their hard work on this year’s anthology.

Load more

  175

Copy Link