Coelho and Thomas nominated alongside Ness and Rundell in more inclusive Carnegie longlist

Established names such as Patrick Ness, Katherine Rundell and Jim Kay are longlisted for the 2018 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals alongside debut authors Angie Thomas, Julia Sarda and Sam Winston.

CILIP announced the longlists today (15th February), with 20 authors longlisted for the Carnegie Medal and 20 illustrators for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Walker is the dominant publisher, with 11 of the 40 titles, but two publishers - Troika Books and Otter Barry Books - are new to the list. Otter Barry is longlisted for the first time with a book of poetry, Joseph Coelho’s Overheard in a Tower Block.

For the second year in a row, one book - The Song from Somewhere Else, written by A.F. Harrold and illustrated by Levi Pinfold - is in the running for both medals.

The inclusion of BAME artists such as Coelho and Thomas comes as CILIP is undergoing a review of how it judges the medals, after the 2017 provoked a backlash for not including any writers or illustrators of colour. The full report will be released later this year but in the meantime this year's longlist will undergo a public consultation.

Jake Hope, chair of the judging panel, said: “Regardless of tastes or interests, this year's longlists offer something for everyone, from established winners to exciting debuts, from fiction based in the past, to stories of the present and those in possible futures, from real life to fantasy, from factual books about the world around us, to richly imagined representations of the emotions and experiences that are familiar to children and young people in their everyday. This year’s list continues the exhilarating tradition of the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals in showcasing the vibrancy and range of form and style in contemporary children's literature, with mind-blowing writing and eye-popping illustrations.”

Hope said the public consultation would help the organisation be “the best champions of equality, participation and inclusion possible”.

The shortlists will be announced on 15th March, with the winners being announced on 18th June at a special daytime event at The British Library, hosted by June Sarpong. The winners will each receive £500 worth of books to donate to their local library, a specially commissioned golden medal and a £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize.

Once the shortlists are selected by the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals judges, a separate team of judges will select a title from each shortlist to be the recipient of the Amnesty CILIP Honour: a commendation for books that most distinctively illuminate, uphold or celebrate human rights.

The 2018 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are sponsored by ALCS and Peters and funded by Carnegie UK Trust and Arts Council England.  

2018 CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist:

The Tale of Angelino Brown by David Almond, illustrated by Alex T. Smith (Walker Books)

The Hypnotist by Laurence Anholt (Penguin Random House)

Overheard in a Tower Block by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Kate Milner (Otter-Barry Books)

Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans (David Fickling Books)

The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Chicken House)

The Song from Somewhere Else by A.F. Harrold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (Bloomsbury)

After the Fire by Will Hill (Usborne)

Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird (Macmillan)

Out of Heart by Irfan Master (Bonnier Zaffre)

A Berlin Love Song by Sarah Matthias (Troika Books)

Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean (Usborne)

Rook by Anthony McGowan (Barrington Stoke)

Release by Patrick Ness (Walker Books)     

The Call by Peadar O'Guilin (David Fickling Books)

Black Light Express by Philip Reeve (Oxford University Press)

The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, illustrated by Hannah Horn (Bloomsbury)

Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick (Hachette)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Walker Books)

Encounters by Jason Wallace (Andersen Press)

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk (Penguin Random House)

2018 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal longlist:

Wild Animals of the South written and illustrated by Dieter Braun (Flying Eye Books)

King of the Sky by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Laura Carlin (Walker Books)      

The Pond by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Cathy Fisher (Graffeg)

Night Shift written and illustrated by Debi Gliori (Bonnier Zaffre)

Bad Bunnies' Magic Show written and illustrated by Mini Grey (Simon & Schuster)

A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Petr Horácek (Walker Books)

A Child of Books written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston (Walker Books)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay (Bloomsbury)                       

We Found a Hat written and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Walker Books)

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (Walker Books)

The Song from Somewhere Else written by A.F Harrold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (Bloomsbury)

The Liszts written by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julia Sarda (Andersen Press)

The Pavee and the Buffer Girl written by Siobhan Dowd, illustrated by Emma Shoard (Barrington Stoke)

Penguin Problems written by Jory John, illustrated by Lane Smith (Walker Books)

Town is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, illustrated by Sydney Smith (Walker Books)

Thornhill written and illustrated by Pam Smy (David Fickling Books)         

Lots: The Diversity of Life on Earth written by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton (Walker Books)            

Storm Whale written by Sarah Brennan, illustrated by Jane Tanner (Old Barn Books)

Under the Same Sky written and illustrated by Britta Teckentrup (Little Tiger Press)       

The Secret of Black Rock written and illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton (Flying Eye Books)