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Harrison and Popplewell win Times Chicken House Awards for Children’s Fiction
Authors Sarah Harrison and Jess Popplewell have won Chicken House’s annual award for children’s writing, held in collaboration with The Times.
Each author wins a publishing deal with Chicken House and the offer of representation from LBA Books agent Louise Lamont.
The overall prize of a £10,000 publishing contract was won by Sarah Harrison and her novel Eddie’s Demons. Pitched as “a middle-grade Mancunian ’Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ meets ’Stranger Things’”, the novel tells the story of an unruly 12-year-old who is sent to an academy in the secret outer realm in an attempt to control her behaviour.
“But when her three mysterious aunts are framed for murder, it’s up to Eddie to solve the mystery,” the synopsis continues. Harrison had previously entered the competition five times before being longlisted – and eventually winning – this year.
Barry Cunningham, Chicken House m.d. and publisher, said: “I loved Eddie’s Demons, as did all the judges of this year’s competition. We soon discovered that Sarah had entered the competition before, but this year decided to submit the story of her heart, not trying to fit into any genre.
“Funny, tough and unexpected, our heroine can’t stop eating the craziest things – but soon finds herself munching into a murder mystery to clear her three mysterious aunts!"
The Chairman’s Choice Award, awarded by Cunningham to the novel which shows the most editorial promise, was won by Jess Popplewell and her novel All Hell. She wins a £7,500 publishing contract with Chicken House.
A YA adventure “inspired in equal parts by Dante’s Inferno and the 00s teen series ’Skins’”, it tells the story of Jenny, who must either accept her fate as a soulless, homeless teen or retrieve her soul in time to foil a plot in an ancient war.
Cunningham described All Hell as a mix of ancient mythology and modern teen relationships with shades of Dante’s Inferno. “An underworld like no other – this brilliant genre-defying debut is another worthy winner,” he said.
The judging panel also included Alex O’Connell, arts editor at the Times; Patrice Lawrence, YA author; Louise Lamont, agent at LBA Books; Lucy Powrie, children’s and YA author; Sanchita de Basu Sarkar, bookseller at Muswell Hill Books; and Rosalind Ramsay, literary scout.
The competition will reopen later this year. It costs £20 to enter and is open to writers from all over the world, as long as they write in English, are unagented and have not had a children’s book published before. More can be found here.
