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Frances Lincoln is launching a new writing award to help it attract authors from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children's Book Award, named in memory of the company's founder, will be administered in partnership with Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books in Newcastle. Editorial director Janetta Otter-Barry said: "Frances Lincoln strongly believes in writing from other cultures. We hope that this award will foster new talent and feed the fiction list for years to come." The award may be extended to include picture books and translated titles.
"The author does not need to be UK-based—our only criteria is that the story is written in English," said Otter-Barry. Either the story or the cultural origins of the author need to reflect cultural diversity.
The prize is £1,500 plus the option for Frances Lincoln to publish the novel. The work must be aimed at children aged eight to 12 years, and the writer must be previously unpublished. The closing date is 30th January 2009, with the winner to be announced in April 2009. The judging panel will include Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.