Worsley wins Sebastian Walker Award for Illustration

Walker Books has named Justin Worsley as the winner of the Sebastian Walker Award for Illustration. 

The award, presented last night at a private viewing of the course exhibition held at the Candid Arts Trust Gallery in London, is run by Walker Books in collaboration with Anglia Ruskin University’s Cambridge School of Art MA in Children’s Book Illustration.

Olivia Feng and Forest Xiao Lin were highly commended by prize judges. Worsley, who was a toy designer before undertaking the Children’s Book Illustration MA, joins the ranks of Walker Award winners including Gill Smith (who has just been longlisted for both the Klaus Flugge Prize and Yoto Carnegie Medal for illustration), Erika Meza, Birgitta Sif, Rachel Stubbs, Daisy Hirst, Jenni Desmond and Flavia Z Drago. Worsley was awarded the Batsford Prize in 2022 for his unpublished story Aliens In The Park.

Shelley Jackson, course leader at Cambridge School of Art, said: “This prize means so much to us—it’s a connection to one of the most respected publishers in our industry as well as recognition for the hard work our students have done throughout their MA course.”

Walker judges Ben Norland, Deirdre McDermott and Nghiem Ta said: “Judging this prize is one of the highlights of our year. There is always so much fresh and exciting talent to see; the Cambridge School of Art’s MA in Children’s Book Illustration is a course that is without parallel in the world of illustration. This year we fell in love with the work of Justin Worsley—loose and playful art, with an assured use of watercolour texture and tremendous comic characterisation. Justin is a stylish artist who completely understands colour and composition, but makes art that’s utterly kid-friendly at heart.”

Justin Worsley’s MA profile can be found here.