Alice Oseman named Illustrator of the Year at 2023 British Book Awards

Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman was declared Illustrator of the Year at the 2023 British British Book Awards final night time, her newest in a rising checklist of plaudits. Meanwhile S F Said’s novel Tyger, illustrated by Dave McKean, received the prime prize in the Children’s Fiction class.

According to the Awards – additionally known as ‘the Nibbies’ – on Oseman’s Illustrator of the Year win:

“Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series was at the forefront of a record year for graphic novels in 2022. When named 151st on The Bookseller’s list of the most influential people in UK publishing—its de facto “Person of the Year”—in 2022, Oseman was billed as “Britain’s first truly global breakout children’s superstar in two decades”, with “Heartstopper Volume 1 the bestselling children’s book across Nielsen BookScan’s 11 international territories”.”

They added:

“This isn’t an in a single day success. In 2016, aged simply 22, Oseman started to put up webcomics on-line. She had no formal artwork coaching and knew YA graphic novels had been a troublesome promote, however felt passionately about the work and queer illustration. Her subscribers multiplied and as the buzz elevated she launched a Kickstarter version in 2018, which hit its goal in underneath two hours.

“In 2019, Hachette Children’s Group published the first two volumes of Heartstopper to enormous commercial success. The illustrated form broke new ground in the YA fiction market, and ever since this LGBTQ+ love story has been at the cutting edge of the UK’s mass-market success in graphic novels. Oseman also had a huge creative input on the Netflix series of “Heartstopper”, received an Emmy in 2022 for Outstanding Writing, and is tireless in her help of booksellers.

“Congratulations to Alice Oseman, The British Book Awards Illustrator of the Year 2023.”

Oseman can be as a consequence of formally obtain a Medal for Fiction from Britain’s prestigious Hay Festival for Arts and Literature later this month.

It wasn’t the solely class Oseman was current in – with the Heartstopper Yearbook (Hachette UK) and Jamie Smart’s newest Bunny vs Monkey (David Fickling Books) assortment, Rise of the Maniacal Badger, being the solely two comics entries throughout twelve of the award classes (each positioned in Children’s Illustrated). They misplaced out, nonetheless, to Harry Woodgate’s LGBTQIA+ kids’s image ebook Grandad’s Camper (Andersen Press) – although one may probably argue that the ebook does partially learn like a comic book at instances.

Judges for the Children’s Illustrated class included The Week Junior’s editorial director Anna Bassi, Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho, The Works industrial director Nina Findley; chaired by The Bookseller’s deputy options editor Caroline Carpenter.

According to the Nibbies web site:

“Our judges fell in love with the “beautiful” and “joyous” message of Harry Woodgate’s image ebook, Grandad’s Camper. This “gentle and heart-warming” story, a celebration of love in all its kinds which was impressed by the lack of older LGBTQ+ characters in kids’s books, was awarded Best Illustrated Book at the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2022.

“Author Woodgate worked hard to promote the book: decorating the windows of six bookshops across the UK, creating postcards for the Queer Lit bookshop, and teaming up with National Literacy Trust to create KS1 resources for schools to use alongside the book. The “purity” and “simplicity” of the ebook’s message and the drive behind the “hell for leather” advertising marketing campaign from Andersen Press made it a winner for our judges.”

In one other class, one other acquainted title took dwelling a prize – the Book of the Year: Children’s Fiction went to S.F. Said’s novel Tyger (David Fickling Books), which has illustrations by Dave McKean.

The Nibbies remarked:

“S F Said’s Blakeian adventure, strikingly illustrated by Dave McKean, was nine years in the making, with publisher David Fickling Books determined not to rush the book to market until it was fully ready. This patience paid off: Tyger is the independent publisher’s second-bestselling fiction hardback ever and the title is now in its fifth reprint. The publisher utilised the glowing reviews from early readers to build connections with key retailers, ensuring the book stood out in a crowded children’s market. One judge said: “This to me feels like a book I really want children to read and have access to.” The “synergy” between the textual content and illustrations was applauded, with our judges agreeing that Tyger already “felt like a classic”. A “stand-out”, all of them concluded.”