New Book Awards - Nero, Adrien and TikTok

Following the closure of the long running Costa Book Awards and the Blue Peter Children's Book Awards, Caffe Nero and Elle McNicoll's Adrien Prize have stepped in to fill the gap.

Administered by The Bookseller, the Nero Book Awards, like the Costa Awards, will include a children's book category alongside debut fiction, fiction and non-fiction but no poetry.  The nominated books will be announced in November 2023, with the winners announced in February 2024. To find out more, you can follow the Awards on social media at @nerobookawards. 

Named after a character in one of her books, the Adrien Prize was founded by award winning author Elle McNicoll in July 2022, with the first award going to Aisha Bushby for A Flash of Fireflies in May 2023.  Aimed at promoting children's books that explore the disability experience, Elle was inspired to create the award following the closure of the Blue Peter Children's Book Awards in 2022.  Elle won the Blue Peter prize for her outstanding debut novel, A Kind of Spark, in 2021.  A Flash of Fireflies in on our wish list!  To find out more, you can follow Elle McNicoll on Twitter at @BooksandChokers.

And finally, TikTok launched their own Book Awards at the Hay Festival earlier this year, following the phenomenal success of their bookish community BookTok.  As well as best BookTok book, author and creator of the year, categories also include 'best book to end a reading slump' and 'best book I wish I could read for the first time'.  The TikTok Book Awards Voting Hub will open in July for the BookTok community to vote for their favourites, with the winners announced in August.

Windrush Day 2023

Windrush Day takes place on 22 June and commemorates Caribbean migrants arriving on the SS Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks in London in 1948.  Today marks the 75th anniversary and a special 50p has been commissioned to commemorate the Windrush generation.  There are also six new poems celebrating Windrush as part of the 'Poems on the Underground' series by poets including John Agard, Grace Nichols and Benjamin Zephaniah.  Look out for these when you are travelling by tube or train in London during June and July.

Windrush Day is an opportunity to celebrate the Windrush generation and recognise the contributions and sacrifices the British Caribbean communities made to help rebuild Britain after World War II.  It is also a chance to reflect upon the difficulties that the Windrush generation experienced then and now.

We highly recommend that you read the award-winning Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah, available in the EPHS Lower Library.  Find out more from the people who were there by reading Voices of the Windrush Generation by David Matthews, available to borrow from the Library, or visiting 'Windrush Stories' on the British Library website here. 

The Guardian's Windrush at 75: books that shaped the black British Experience featuring books selected by leading Black British figures including Historian David Olusoga, is also worth a look.  To view, click here. 

First Story Young Writers Eco-Poetry competition winners

We are delighted to announce that two of our First Story Young Writers have been awarded first and third place in the First Story Young Writers Eco-Poetry competition, with a special mention for Tariana in Year 10.  Rose in Year 10 came first with her poem The Walnut Tree and Jonathan in Year 9 came third with his poem Unremarkable Us.  Both Rose and Jonathan will receive a gift bundle and certificate.

All the winning entries can be read on the First Story website by clicking here.  Rose and Jonathan's winning entries appear below:

First place winner

Walnut Tree

by Rose (Eden Park High School)

I walk along the empty streets

At 8am, when the morning peaks

افسوس‌ که شهر مدهوشان جاودان نبود *

Where the crumbled wall draws me close

And the walnut tree extends her arms

She pulls her green sleeves over my head

Her velvet veil tints my view

افسوس‌ که شهر مدهوشان جاودان نبود *

The breeze gently runs his hand

Through my hair and across my face

The walnut tree sings a song

Spring comes and rushes by

افسوس‌ که شهر مدهوشان جاودان نبود *

Flowers bloom under her grace

And the birds join in her song

Home is near and passing by

اما افسوس‌ که شهر مدهوشان  جاودان نبود **

Persian translations:

* alas, the city of the enchanted may not last forever

** but, alas, the city of the enchanted did not last

Third place winner

Unremarkable Us 

by Jonathan (Eden Park High School)

Picture, if you can, our universe.

For immeasurable lengths it stretches,

containing equally immeasurable amounts of stuff,

– all of it organised into small, dense pieces, 

fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle.

And each and every single one of these pieces 

somehow manages to stretch for exceptional lengths,

and contain equally exceptional amounts of stuff,

– also organised into pieces of insane size,

which stretch on for further lengths, and contain further amounts of stuff,

divided into somewhat smaller parts that contain… yet more of this stuff.

And somewhere in there

is us:

small,

naïve,

unremarkable 

us.

Yoto Carnegies 2023 - Winners Announced!

The winners of this year's prestigious Yoto Carnegies (formerly the CILIP Carnegie and Greenaway Awards) were announced today! 

The overall winner of the Carnegies Medal for Writing was Manon Steffan Ros for The Blue Book of Nebo, a haunting post apocalyptic story that leaves you wanting more.  The Carnegie Shadower’s Choice was the heartbreakingly moving historical novel, I Must Betray You by former Carnegie winner Ruta Septys. 

The ceremony was streamed live from the Barbican Centre and hosted by the former Children's Laureate, author and illustrator Lauren Child. Our Shadowing Group, the Eden Park Readers, gathered in the Lower Library to watch and there was much discussion and debate over donuts and strawberries.  All agreed that they loved being part of the group and can't wait for next year!

The Books That Made Me - Ms Umolu

We asked members of staff to share ‘the books that made them’.  These are the choices of Ms Umolu from the English Department

________________________

The book I am currently reading…

I am currently re-reading Glenroy Moves to Mona Heights by Kimshaw Aiken, simply because I find it fascinating, captivating and invigorating.  

My favourite book as a child…

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.  I enjoyed going on a voyage with the main character, who ended up in ship disaster that left him stranded on an Island. The description of human resilience fascinated me as a young child.  I marvelled at the struggle for survival in a desolate uninhabited Island. The sudden appearance of ‘Boy Friday,’ introduced me to the concept of diversity and the importance of acceptance through Love, patience and friendship.   Not just the acceptance of a Western Culture and language, but the vital aspects of the knowledge of the land. A bit like Pocahontas’s Famous song ‘Can you sing with all the colours of the wind.’ It was just simply great, to see how Crusoe himself learnt about how to survive in a foreign land from the local boy, who he named, ‘Boy Friday.’ This story was my childhood companion. A story that I read and re-read and discussed at length with my childhood best friend – My father . 

The last book that made me cry…

The Bastard of Istanbul By Elif Shafak.  A child born out of wedlock is termed a bastard in the context that forms Elif Shafak’s novel. But that is just the start of the chaos, the ill-luck, the curse, that is believed to have been wrecked on the family and the society in which the ‘Bastard’ was born in. The Bastard Child is blamed and punished for it all. She is treated with suspicion and labelled a witch and an embodiment of bad luck just because of the accident of her birth!

Elif Shafak is a great Turkish Author, who is captivating the hearts of millions of readers all over the world. This story of the Bastard of Istanbul is sure to bring tears to your eyes. It made me cry many times while reading it.   My questions are: Where does innocence begin and where does it end? Can a new-born baby be born guilty of all that is wrong in society?  Why have girls/daughters been demonised, for centuries in all societies, all over the world? When is this demonisation going to end? Elif Shafak in ‘The Bastard of Istanbul,’ sheds light to some of the evils and the dangers  of ancient cultures and beliefs, especially the ones that continue to demonise the feminine gender up till this contemporary times! 

The last book that made me laugh...

Glenroy Moves to Mona Heights.  This story details the seriousness and the difficulties of being a single mother and an immigrant in London. It delves into the street cultures of teenagers in low-income parts of London. It portrays the struggles of a single-black woman trying to juggle full time work, with raising a son in London, and her, heart-wrenching decision to send him away.  These are serious aspects of life. YET, within this seriousness, is embedded a world of humour that made me laugh so much, my belly hurt and tears from hard laughter flowed down from my eyes.  

My comfort read…

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.  I have read it more than TEN times! Each time I read it, I discover new lessons about love, revenge, hatred, kindness, forgiveness or the lack of it. It’s a story that reads beyond all imaginations, about the traumas of life, especially the devasting effects of hatred and revenge brought upon, by the unkindness and ordeals experienced in childhood. Heathcliff became a monster, who took his revenge into the third generation of the people who maltreated him as a child and robbed him of his love for Catherine Henshaw and his dignity and identity as a human being. 

The one book I think everyone should read is…

Glenroy Moves to Mona by Kimshaw Aiken. It is a phenomenal and beautifully written story. Written by one of the best Master Crafter of stories.   The story starts in the heart of London and moves swiftly and smoothly to Jamaica. The reader travels with Glenroy from the Council Estates of London to the culturally packed and beautiful scenery in Jamaica.  The journey through this story is encompassed in the most remarkable use of English Language at its very best. 

It portrays two different cultures and juxtaposes two diverse worlds in the most amazing embodiment of interesting vocabulary. The story of Glenroy encompasses humour, beauty, Philosophy, cultural diversity, creativity, and it challenges the myths of finding greener pastures away from one’s own country and cultures.

It is a story suited for ages 11 to adults. The young will find it fascinating and invigorating. Adults will relish the authors. use of language, enjoy the plot, grow with the characters, have belly laughs at the subtle, but amazingly beautiful humours. 

All of the books Ms Umolu has mentioned are available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries.

Literary News - Award winners and Adaptations

This year's Women's Prize for Fiction has been won by Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, a reimagining of Dicken's classic novel David Copperfield, set in the Appalachian Mountains.  You can find novels by Barbara Kingsolver and Charles Dickens in the EPHS Libraries.  Demon Copperhead is on order and will be available soon!  

You can listen to Barbara Kingsolver, author and poet Michael Rosen and Carnegie nominated Jessie Burton talk about Dickens and their books in a BBC Radio broadcast at the Hay Festival by clicking here. 

In other news, Netflix is filming a ten part series of the iconic and hilarious Geek Girl series by Holly Smale, about a neurodivergent teenager who becomes a model.  Look out also for season 2 of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Heartstopper by Alice Oseman and The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han.  As well as film adaptations of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, The Uglies by Scott Westerfield and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, the prequel to the Hunger Games series.  All these books are available to borrow from the EPHS Libraries - read the book before watching the adaptation!

Refugee Week 2023

This week is Refugee Week, an annual festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees'. The theme is 'compassion'.  A refugee is 'a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster'.

We are inviting you to do one simple act - read a book about refugees and start a discussion.

Reading is a great way to walk in someone else's shoes and build up empathy for their situation.

The Library has a wonderful selection of books for you to choose from and you may like to check out the list of 40 children's books to raise awareness for Refugee Week 20-26 June on the LoveReading4Kids website.

YA Book Awards - shortlist announced!

The Bookseller YA Book Prize short list was announced last week and this year's shortlist is packed with a great selection of books!  They include the Carnegie short listed The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch and the Jhalak Prize winner When Our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando. 

Launched in 2014, this prize is aimed at celebrating great fiction for teens and young adults.

Empathy Day 2023 - Read for Empathy

Today is Empathy Day, an opportunity to celebrate and develop empathy as 'our human superpower'.  Created and run by Empathy Lab, Empathy Day is about encouraging children and young people to read empathy-boosting stories to gain a better understanding of people and how they think and feel.

The 2023 Empathy Book Collection for Secondary featuring 25 fantastic books aimed at 12-16 years is available to view here.  Most of the books from the Secondary School Collection are now available to borrow from the Library.  

There are also a series of Empathy Shorts, 500-word short stories written by a selection of fantastic authors and illustrators.  These empathy boosting stories are available to access on the Empathy Lab website by clicking here.

We would love to hear what you favourite read for empathy book is.  Let us know via the Library Insta account @ephs_library!

Read with Pride

Welcome back!  We hope you had a great half term break and found plenty of opportunity to read and relax.

June is Pride Month.  As well as being a time to celebrate, Pride month is about the acceptance and equality of LGBTQ+ community.    

Pride takes place in June because that is the month the Stonewall Riots happened in the USA in 1969.  The Pride in London parade takes place on 1st July this year. 

The Library has a diverse collection of LGBT+ literature, both fiction and non-fiction for you to explore.  Including award winning novels such as  Black Flamingo by Dean Atta,  Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls and Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow by Benjamin Dean.  To view the collection on OLIVER click here.

BBC Newsround  has a list of 12 LBGT icons from history that you should know about - to view, click here. 

Creative Writing Competitions

Love writing and winning prizes? Then you may be interested in entering one or both of these competitions:

The Poetry Society has announced that The Foyle Young Poets of the Year competition 2023 is now open for entries.  This is a fantastic opportunity to further your writing aspirations, as the prize includes mentoring and development opportunities from the Poetry Society.  To enter you simply need to submit a poem of any theme, of any length and of any style and must be aged 11 to 17.  The competition deadline is 31 July 2023.  For more information and to enter click here.

Book Trust Creative Writing Competition - win amazing prizes from their writer in residence SF Said. The competition is open to anyone aged 8 and over and prizes will be awarded for "the most creative piece of writing and the most creative piece of art that is inspired by an animal, just like his books Varjak Paw and Tyger."  The winning entry for each category will receive 30 copies of Tyger plus a signed print of Dave McKean's artwork.  In addition, the first 1,000 individuals or classes to enter will receive a poster.  The closing date is Friday, 28th July.  For more information and inspiration click here.