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| The Carnegie Medal for Writing | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults |
| Sponsored by | Yoto |
| Reward(s) | £5,000 |
| First awarded | 1936 |
| Last awarded | Active |
| Website | yotocarnegies |
The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936, is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing".[1] CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award.
Nominated books must be written in English and first published in the UK during the preceding school year (September to August).[2] Until 1969, the award was limited to books by British authors first published in England.[3] The first non-British medalist was Australian author Ivan Southall for Josh (1972). The original rules also prohibited winning authors from future consideration.[3] The first author to win a second Carnegie Medal was Peter Dickinson in 1981, who won consecutively for Tulku and City of Gold. As of 2018, eight authors had received the Medal more than once.
The winner is awarded a gold medal and £500 worth of books donated to the winner's chosen library. In addition, since 2016 the winner has received a £5,000 cash prize from the Colin Mears bequest.[4][5]
2023 rendition
Manon Steffan Ros won the 2023 Carnegie Medal for The Blue Book of Nebo,[6] the first time a translation had won the award. The Blue Book of Nebo is a novel told in dual narrative by a boy and his mother navigating a post-apocalyptic world. Translated from Welsh, it depicts Welsh identity and culture.
There were seven books on the 2023 shortlist:[7]
- Katya Balen, The Light in Everything (Bloomsbury)
- Sita Brahmachari, When Shadows Fall (Little Tiger)
- Jessie Burton, Medusa (Bloomsbury)
- Louise Finch, The Eternal Return of Clara Hart (Little Island)
- Patrice Lawrence, Needle (Barrington Stoke)
- Manon Steffan Ros, The Blue Book of Nebo (Firefly Press)
- Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You (Hodder) Winner of the Shadowers choice
Recommended ages have ranged from 8+ to 14+ for books on the shortlist since 2001.
History
The Medal is named after the Scottish-born American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), who founded more than 2,800 libraries in the English-speaking world, including at least one in more than half of British library authorities.[4] It was established in 1936 by the British Library Association, to celebrate the centenary of Carnegie's birth[4][8] and inaugurated in 1937 with the award to Arthur Ransome for Pigeon Post (1936) and the identification of two 'commended' books.[8] The first Medal was dated 1936, but since 2007, it has been dated by its year of presentation, which is now one or two years after publication.[9]
In 1955, the Kate Greenaway Medal was established as a companion to the Carnegie Medal. The Kate Greenaway Medal recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children".[10]
Both awards were established and administered by the Library Association, until it was succeeded by CILIP in 2002.[8] In 2022, the award was officially renamed to the Carnegie Medal for Illustration.[11]
As of 2023, the award is organized by CILIP and sponsored by Yoto, Scholastic, and the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society.[12]
Process
CILIP members may nominate books each September and October, with the full list of valid nominations published in November.[13] The longlist, chosen by the judges from the nominated books, is published in February. The judging panel comprises 12 children's librarians, all of whom are members of CILIP's Youth Libraries Group (YLG). The shortlist is announced in March and the winner in June.[13]
Titles must be English-language works first published in the UK during the preceding year (1 September to 31 August). According to CILIP, "all categories of books, including poetry, non-fiction and graphic novels, in print or ebook format, for children and young people are eligible".[2] Multiple-author anthologies are excluded; however, co-authored single works are eligible.[2]
Young people from across the UK take part in shadowing groups organised by secondary schools and public libraries, to read and discuss the shortlisted books.[13]
CILIP instructs the judging panel to consider plot, characterisation, and style "where appropriate".[2] Furthermore, it states that "the book that wins the Carnegie Medal should be a book of outstanding literary quality. The whole work should provide pleasure, not merely from the surface enjoyment of a good read, but also the deeper subconscious satisfaction of having gone through a vicarious, but at the time of reading, a real experience that is retained afterwards".[2]
A diversity review in 2018 led to changes in the nomination and judging process to promote better representation of ethnic minority authors and books.[14]
Winners
As of 2022, 83 Medals have been awarded over 86 years, spanning the period from 1936 to 2021. No eligible book published in 1943, 1945, or 1966 was considered suitable by the judging panel.[9]
From 2007 onward, the medals are dated by the year of presentation. Prior to this, they were dated by the calendar year of their British publication.[9]
Forty-one winning books were illustrated in their first editions, including every one during the first three decades. Six from 1936 to 1953 were illustrated or co-illustrated by their authors; none since then.