Agard-Olubo wins Mo Siewcharran Prize for ‘mesmerising’ entry

Mayo Agard-Olubo has been announced as the winner of the Mo Siewcharran Prize 2023 for Kid Rex vs the Dastardly Dust Bunnies.

The runner-up, The Doll that Could Not Play by Antoinette Brooks, was also announced at the prize ceremony hosted at Hachette’s London office on 28th September 2023.

Now in its fourth year, the Mo Siewcharran Prize is run as part of Hachette UK’s The Future Bookshelf and named in memory of Nielsen BookData’s former director of marketing and communications.

The prize is sponsored by John Seaton, Mo Siewcharran’s husband and co-founder of the prize, and Nielsen BookData. The prize aims to shine a light on unpublished fiction writers from Black, Asian, mixed heritage and minority ethnic backgrounds. This year, the prize was hosted by Hachette Children’s Group (HCG) and has focused on writers in the picture book genre.

Kid Rex vs the Dastardly Dust Bunnies is about a boy called Max whose imagination transforms everyday adventures into thrilling adventures where only his alter ego — Kid Rex — can save the day. When his toys are captured by King Dust Bunny, Kid Rex has to battle his way through stinky clothes monsters, rolling robots and a dust bunny army. Can he defeat King Dust Bunny and tidy his room before mum gets home?

The prize was judged by HCG’s picture book development director, north, Emma Layfield, alongside literary agent Emily Talbot of United Agents, author Smriti Halls, illustrator Nila Aye, co-director of Round Table Books Meera Ghanshamdas, children’s book consultant Jake Hope, plus HCG’s picture books and preschool editorial director, Frances Elks and art director, Izzy Jones.

Judge Jake Hope said: “Kid Rex has a mesmerising mash-up of superhero tropes, dinosaurs and monsters! It’s an irresistible story filled with ingenious invention and imagination. The setting is at once relatable and familiar yet is extremely playful and creative! There’s huge scope for illustration and it offers rich opportunities for sharing and interaction through group story times or on a one-to-one basis. Kid Rex is a triumph of tyrannosaurus proportions!”

Seaton said: “The competition was strong, but Kid Rex vs the Dastardly Dust Bunnies stood out for its irresistible comic verve, transforming, through the imagination of Kid Rex, the very ordinary into a fantastic adventure of derring-do.”

Agard-Olubo said, “I am so honoured to be the winner of this years’ Mo Siewcharran Prize. Kid Rex was inspired by my parents and my childhood, as well as my love for superheroes. I love picture books because they are the foundation of reading and have the power to set children off on a lifelong journey of imagination. I’m so grateful to everyone involved in this prize for giving me this opportunity, and I can’t wait to introduce Kid Rex to the world.”

Agard-Olubo is a writer and poet based in London who writes fiction in prose and verse for children and young adults. He is a winner of the A Writing Chance writing competition, a London Writers Award, and a FAB Prize Highly Commended Award. He has been longlisted for The Jericho Prize, is a graduate of the HarperCollins Author Academy and has had articles published in The Bookseller and the New Statesman.