Editoria e Media
2019 ALCS Educational Writers' Award #EWA19: Alastair Humphreys' GREAT ADVENTURERS Wins the UK's Sole Award for Creative Educational Writing
Written by adventurer and author Alastair Humphreys and illustrated by Kevin Ward , this is an enthralling and visually captivating book containing the remarkable stories of the intrepid journeys undertaken by Humphreys' explorer heroes.
The result of this year's Educational Writers' Award - the UK's only award for creative educational writing - was announced this evening at a reception at the Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society in London .
Children's author and Chair of ALCS, Tony Bradman presented Alastair Humphreys and Kevin Ward with a shared cheque for £2,000.
Published by Big Picture Press, is a compendium of great expeditions, hand-picked by Alastair Humphreys , whose own adventures include cycling the world and rowing the Atlantic Ocean. It retells the extraordinary stories of 20 men and women who have ventured into space, and across oceans, continents, deserts and jungles - inspiring Alastair's own adventurous travels. They include Amelia Earhart , Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Dervla Murphy, Ibn Battuta and Sacagawea.
This year's judges – , a primary school teacher; , a prolific author of fiction, non-fiction and poetry for children; and a junior school librarian – were full of praise for the winning title:
Further information about the winning author and illustrator can be found below. The 2019 Educational Writers' Award focused on books for 5-11-year-olds, published in 2017 and 2018. beat off strong competition from the five other titles shortlisted for this year's Award. They were: written by David Hockney & Martin Gayford and illustrated by Rose Blake (Thames & Hudson); written by Kathy Hoopman and designed by Adam Peacock ( Jessica Kingsley ); written by Sarah Ridley and designed and illustrated by Jeni Child ( Franklin Watts ); written by Alom Shaha and illustrated by Emily Robertson (Scribble); and written by Anna Wilson and illustrated by Elly Jahnz (Nosy Crow).
Now in its twelfth year, the Educational Writers' Award was established in 2008 by the Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Society of Authors (SoA)
A modern-day adventurer, was named as National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2012 after spending four years cycling round the world, a journey of 46,000 miles through 60 countries and five continents. Sir Ranulph Fiennes called it 'the first great adventure of the millennium'. He has also walked across India , rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, run six marathons through the Sahara Desert, and crossed Iceland by foot and packraft. Alastair has recently become the pioneer of 'microadventures', a movement encouraging people to seek out short, local adventures.
is a Canadian illustrator, writer and educator living in Madrid . Kevin's work mixes hand-drawn & digital processes: he has created editorial illustrations, comics, books, animation, story games and is drawn to curious histories and travel. He studied literature and creative writing in Montreal and visual communication in London , and subsequently worked as a graphics tutor in the fine art department of Goldsmiths College, London for thirteen years. He has run workshops with the Architecture Foundation, De La Warr Pavilion, YMCA, ELCAF, Alternative Press Fair and others and now tutors on Falmouth University's online Illustration MA.
has worked with children across both KS1 and KS2 after studying at the University of Reading. Now a primary school Team Leader, she is currently working with Years 2, 4 and 6.
has written over 200 fiction, non-fiction and poetry books. She also regularly visits schools, speaks at conferences and runs story writing and poetry workshops both at home and overseas.
has worked in children's books and literacy support for 20 years, the last three as Junior School Librarian at Wimbledon High School for Girls in South West London .
The Society of Authors is a trade union for all types of writers, illustrators and literary translators, and has been advising individuals and speaking out for the profession for more than a century. The SoA supports and runs many other prizes for poetry, short stories, fiction and non-fiction, and in addition to the ALCS Educational Writers' Award also administers the Sunday Times/ University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award. The SoA distributed more than £600,000 in prizes and grants in 2019.
The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit organisation for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers' work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity, ensure they receive fair payment, and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal. Today ALCS represents over 100,000 members, and since 1977 has paid out more than £500 million to writers.
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1039627/The_Society_of_Authors__SoA_Logo.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/816378/ALCS_Logo.jpg