Colvin wins Macmillan Prize for Illustration with ‘beautifully observed’ book

Becky Colvin has won The Macmillan Prize for Illustration 2023 with her “beautifully observed” picture book Shut Down, beating a record number of 260 entries.

She was named winner at the award ceremony on Thursday 22nd June, held at the Pan Macmillan offices in London. Shut Down, also the winner of the Batsford Prize, an annual competition open to art students across the UK, is a picture book about a boy who won’t take off his robot costume and grieve.

On the judging panel, art director of Macmillan Children’s Books Chris Inns, as chair, was accompanied by Hannah Ray (publishing director for picture books) and Lorna Scobie Cookson (design manager); Diane Ewen, illustrator of There Was a Young Zombie Who Swallowed a Worm, written by Kaye Baillie and the forthcoming title, Keep Smiling, written by Floella Benjamin; author and illustrator Steve Antony (The Queen’s Hat and the Mr Panda series); Fleur Sinclair (manager of Sevenoaks Bookshop); and Zoey Dixon (library hubs manager for Lambeth Council).

Inns said: “Opening up the criteria to a wider group of non-professional illustrators this year gave us a multitude of different media in a range of styles to review. The standard was very high across the board, with an impressive level of accomplishment. Key themes in the entries were empathy, mental health and emotional intelligence, alongside more humorous stories that showed children exploring the worlds they live in.

“Becky Colvin’s picture book stood out to everyone on the judging panel for the impressive way she conveyed such emotion through her images, blending the visual imagery with her text perfectly. We were struck by her sophisticated storytelling and her careful development of a deeply emotional subject. The result connects with the reader in a powerful way, and so it was a unanimous decision for us to choose her as our winner.”

The judges observed that Colvin’s visual language was “full of beautifully observed moments, all rendered sensitively to create atmosphere to match the story”, noting her use of light and colour. “I would like to extend my congratulations to Becky, along with our thanks to everyone who entered the prize this year, and to our wonderful judges for their expertise, insight and guidance,” he said.

Colvin, who has just finished her degree in illustration at UWE, Bristol, said: “I love telling stories and capturing the quiet moments in life. I work in a range of media, often merging analogue and digital techniques, but watercolour, gouache and pencils are my jam. I found out about the prize after some of my tutors encouraged me to enter, but I never would have thought I’d win! I still can’t quite believe it. I won’t ever forget answering that call while I had a mouthful of a sandwich. It was completely unexpected and I’m incredibly grateful.

“The story behind Shut Down is very near and dear to my heart, being inspired by personal experience. Grief is a difficult thing for anyone to cope with, let alone a child, and I wanted those who read it to leave feeling like they’re not alone. I just hoped to do the story justice and am delighted that the emotion I put into it is coming across.”

The second prize was awarded to Xinyi Bi for their work Where’s Katie’s Cat? and third prize was awarded to Aditi Anand for their book Stitch. There are also 20 highly commended entries.

Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, m.d of Macmillan Children’s Books said: “Very many congratulations to Becky Colvin and the other winners this year. It has been wonderful to see such an exceptional array of work submitted for the Mac Prize and to know that children’s publishing will be all the richer in the future with such outstanding talent coming through. Publishing groundbreaking illustrated books is core to MCB’s business and, in reviewing the criteria for the Mac Prize and including all non-professional illustrators, the submission will better reflect the world we live in and be more relevant for the children we want to reach.”