Black History Matters scoops 2020 ALCS Educational Writers' Award

Black History Matters: The Story of Black History, From African Kingdoms to Black Lives Matter by historian Robin Walker has been crowned the winner of the 2020 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award.

Awarded the £2,000 award for creative educational writing at a virtual awards ceremony hosted by the Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) on Wednesday evening (9th December), Walker was praised by the judges for his "accessible, comprehensive and inspiring book".

The award was judged by children’s author Bali Rai, school librarian Liz Annetts, and secondary school teacher Charlotte Baggley, who said the book provided "a balanced and timely introduction both to Black history and the Black Lives Matter movement".

Of the book, which chronicles thousands of years of Black history, from African kingdoms, to slavery, apartheid, the battle for civil rights and more, they added: "It’s an excellent classroom resource that will be used time and time again by teachers."

The runner-up for the 2020 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award is How to Be Autistic, written and illustrated by Charlotte Amelia Poe, and published by Myriad Editions. The judges praised the personal account of autism, mental illness, gender and sexual identity as “a raw, honest and potentially life-changing personal story which fills a gap in the resources currently available, and illustrates how far we still need to travel in order to understand and support those with autism”.

Three other titles were shortlisted for this year’s award: Africa, Amazing Africa: Country By Country, written by Atinuke and illustrated by Mouni Feddag (Walker Books); Earth Heroes: 20 Inspiring Stories of People Saving Our World, written by Lily Dyu and illustrated by Jackie Lay (Nosy Crow); and Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook the World, written by Katherine Halligan and illustrated by Sarah Walsh (Nosy Crow).