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The Book People closes Queen of Teen award
Book retailer The Book People has confirmed it will no longer run the Queen of Teen award, saying the prize does not form part of its “ongoing plans”.
Marketing director Emma Whyman told The Bookseller: “While we will always celebrate and recognise our favourite writing talent by hand-picking the best young adult fiction from around the world, unfortunately at this time the Queen of Teen award does not form part of our ongoing plans.
“We are hugely proud and pleased to have been a part of this wonderful award and we will never say never to coordinating a Queen of Teen award beyond 2016, and we very much look forward to promoting, supporting and curating new awards in the future.”
The Book People launched Queen of Teen as a biennial award for YA and teen fiction in 2008. The prize was voted for by teen readers and has over the years been won by Louise Rennison, Cathy Cassidy and Maureen Johnson.
The most recent winner was Juno Dawson, who won the prize before her male-to-female transition, in 2014.
Whyman said: “The Book People has long championed young adult fiction in all its forms, and is proud to have had the opportunity to give the genre and its authors a stage on which to promote the magic of books and the power of reading… The award’s royal lineage is hugely gifted and is demonstrative of just about every kind of story imaginable.”
Last year, The Book People also withdrew its sponsorship of the Red House Children’s Book Awards, which are coordinated by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups (FCBG).
Wendy Gilham, who organises the awards, said the prize will continue but be known as “The Children’s Book Award”. She told The Bookseller that the federation has “sufficient funds” for this year’s awards, which will be announced in May, but is looking for a new sponsor for next year.
The Book People underwent a company-wide www.thebookseller.com/news/restructure-book-people">restructure last year, six months after venture capital company Endless LLP invested £10-20m in the business.
Seni Glaister, who co-founded the company in 1988, stepped down from the role of c.e.o. in June last year. She was replaced by William Wellesley.
