DATE: April 18, 2013
CONTACT: Foyles Booksellers
LOCATION/TIME: Foyles on Charing Cross Road on 18th April 2013 at 6:30 p.m.
Undiscovered Voices Anthology launch event at Foyles on 18th April
SCBWI British Isles will once again help fresh, new voices in children's literature find agents, publishers and ultimately readers through its Undiscovered Voices project.
The Undiscovered Voices anthology will include twelve fiction extracts: from early readers up through young adult novels, and twelve black-and-white illustrations. The anthology will be published in February 2014 and sent free of charge to editors, art directors and agents whose focus is children's literature. The book will be produced by volunteers, with the financial support of Working Partners Ltd, a London-based company that creates series fiction.
This year submissions will only be accepted via an online submissions process between 1st July to 15th August 2013. There is no submissions' fee, but only unagented and unpublished members of SCBWI living in the UK and Europe (writing in the English language) are eligible. This is the first time that SCBWI members living in Europe also will be able to submit fiction and illustrations.
From the three previous anthologies, 22 of the 36 selected authors have received publishing contracts for more than 70 books. These authors have been nominated for and won an amazing array of literary prizes: including the Carnegie Medal, Waterstones Children's Book Prize, Branford Boase Award, Blue Peter Award, the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, and nearly 30 regional awards.
The Undiscovered Voices team will launch the project with an event at Foyles on Charing Cross Road on 18th April 2013 at 6:30 p.m. At the event, several of the editor, art director and agent judges will offer tips and advice for writers and illustrators who plan to submit to the anthology. Free tickets are available at events@foyles.co.uk. The Foyles event website is: http://www.foyles.co.uk/Public/Events/Detail.aspx?eventId=1863
The following judges will select the stories and illustrations to be included in the anthology: Julia Churchill, Literary Agent, The Greenhouse Literary Agency; Gemma Cooper, Literary Agent, The Bent Agency; Helen Graham-Cameron, Graham-Cameron Illustration Agency; Ben Horslen, Editorial Director, Puffin; Sarah Lambert, Editorial Director at Quercus Children's Books; Francis McKay, Francis McKay Illustration Agency; Sara O'Connor, Editorial Director for Print & Digital at Hot Key Books*; Martin Salisbury, Professor of Illustration; Course Leader, MA Children's Book Illustration, and Director of The Centre for Children's Book Studies; Samantha Smith, Editorial Director, Children's: Atom and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Sallyanne Sweeney, Literary Agent, Watson, Little Ltd; Ngheim Ta, Senior Designer/Digital Content Coordinator, Templar Books; and Tracey Ridgewell, Art Director Older Fiction Macmillan Children's Books.
The new and improved www.undiscoveredvoices.com will be launched on 18th April 2013 and contain further details about the project.