The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition

Earlier this year my debut children’s novel, Something Fishy, was shortlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. So, it was with a great amount of nerves and excitement that, along with five other talented writers, I descended on London’s Zetter Townhouse for lunch with the judging panel. With authors travelling from as far afield as Germany, Italy and Los Angeles, I felt slightly guilty for having strolled down Upper Street from my home in nearby Highbury.

From L-R: the competition’s overall winner Efua Traoré, Chicken House’s Barry Cunningham, and me!

The competition panel consisted of star judge Nikesh Shukla, the celebrated author of The One Who Wrote Destiny and editor of The Good Immigrant, as well as legendary Chicken House publisher Barry Cunningham, The Times’ arts editor Alex O’Connell, Waterstones’ children’s buyer Florentyna Martin, Nikki Gamble of Just Imagine, literary agent Amy Fitzgerald, literary scout Becca Langton, and an enthusiastic young reader named Gracie, aged 13.

This esteemed group spent their morning discussing our novels over coffee, before choosing two winners and joining us for a delicious lunch. I was delighted to be seated between Nikki Gamble and the winner of the 2017 competition, Jasbinder Bilan. Her debut novel, Asha and the Spirit Bird, is a beautiful story about a young girl’s journey across the Himalaya which has deservedly gone on to achieve enormous success.

From L-R: Me, Chris Hill, Efua Traoré, Jasbinder Bilan, Alexandra Page and Gary Haq. The sixth shortlistee, Jenna Nelson, is not pictured.

It was after the main course that Barry Cunningham stood to announce this year’s winner - Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traoré - followed by the recipient of the Chairman’s Choice, a new prize to celebrate the competition’s tenth anniversary, which went to my very own novel Something Fishy.

Shock, delight, amazement and dessert swiftly followed, and our prizes were announced in The Times this morning as well as on the Chicken House website. I am over the moon to know that I will be a published author in 2021, when I’ll be joining the long list of incredible writers that get to call Chicken House their coop. I can’t wait to work with the talented team there who will help bring the best out of my barmy novel.

Congratulations to Efua, thank you to Chicken House and to all of the judging panel for making my publishing dreams come true.

If you are an unpublished author without an agent, you can find more details about entering the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition here: www.chickenhousebooks.com/submissions.