Hachette Children’s Novel Awards 2024 open for entries as judges announced
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Judges have been announced for the Hachette Children’s Novel Awards 2024, as Hachette Children’s Group and New Writing North seek entries from new children’s authors from the North of England.
The Hachette Children’s Novel Awards 2024 are open until 4 January 2024 to unpublished manuscripts of middle-grade fiction by debut children’s authors based in the North.
Since 2018, the Hachette Children’s Novel Awards have been a key strand to the Northern Writers’ Awards. The Northern Writers’ Awards were founded in 2000 by New Writing North and are produced with support from Northumbria University, Arts Council England, and a range of partners. England’s largest and longest-running writer development programme, the awards support new, unpublished work from the North of England.
The children’s author JJ Arcanjo; literary agent Jordan Lees; Children’s Range Manager and Buyer for Waterstones, Sadie Cheshire; Hachette Children’s Group commissioning editor, Aliyana Hirji; and Hachette Children’s Group licensing manager, Sarah Lennon Galavan will judge the Hachette Children’s Novel Awards in 2024.
The awards focus on debut middle-grade authors and have discovered James Harris (2019), Hannah Durkan (2020), Andy Ruffell (2021), Karon Alderman (2022), and Rachel Rowlands and Rachel Pattinson (both 2023), leading to publication by Hachette Children’s Group of:
- The Unbelievable Biscuit Factory by James Harris (Hodder Children’s Books, 2021)
- Happytown Must Be Destroyed by James Harris (Hodder Children’s Books, 2022)
- Zeina Starborn and the Sky Whale by Hannah Durkan (Orion Children’s Books, 2022)
- Zeina Starborn and the Emerald King by Hannah Durkan (Orion Children’s Books, July 2023)
- Lily Grim and the City of Undone by Andy Ruffell (Hodder Children’s Books, May 2023)
- Dark Flood by Karon Alderman (forthcoming, Orion Children’s Books, July 2024)
In 2024, two winning writers will receive a £3000 cash prize alongside a 9-month programme of mentoring opportunities with Hachette Children’s Group, through which they will receive professional development sessions in the areas of editorial and design, sales, marketing and rights. The winning writers will also receive entry into the Northern Writers’ Awards Talent Network, as a result benefitting from support from New Writing North, membership of the Society of Authors and networking opportunities.
The Hachette Children’s Novel Awards support the shared aims of Hachette Children’s Group and New Writing North to encourage work that engages with the lives of children everywhere. The awards also build on a broader long-term partnership between New Writing North and Hachette, who share offices in central Newcastle and co-deliver an MA in Publishing at Northumbria University.