The Times/CH Children's Fiction Competition 2024 Winners!
What a blast! We had a fantastic time yesterday at our Big Breakfast event, not only celebrating our 2025 authors and a very special 25th anniversary of the Coop, but we also hosted the Times/Chicken House Competition judging panel ... AND announced the winners!
The fantastic judging panel consisted of chairman and publisher Barry Cunningham, The Times reporter and children’s book critic Lucy Bannerman, agent Lydia Silver, children’s laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, literary scout Tessa Girvan, and Co-Head of Kids and Family at Lime Pictures, Tim Compton. They provided some fantastic and thoughtful feedback, a huge thank you to each one of our judges for their time and attention on our six shortlisted manuscripts – you are all stars!
Well, the time has come …
DRUMROLL PLEASE!
The overall prize, the Times/Chicken House award – the prize of which is a £10,000 publishing contract and the offer of agent representation – was won by Lucas Maxwell and his novel You Have Selected Power Drive!
You Have Selected Power Drive is the story of Elias, an autistic fourteen-year-old boy growing up in a snowy rural town. Unbeknownst to Elias, his older brother Bo struggles with addiction. Pitched as being for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, judges praised Maxwell’s accomplished writing and the endearing warmth of the story.
The Lime Pictures New Storyteller Award, awarded to the novel which shows the greatest TV development potential, was won by Tommy Finlayson and The Cornershop on Apocalypse Street. Tommy Finlayson wins a £7,500 publishing contract and the offer of representation from agent Lydia Silver.
Described by judge Frank Cottrell-Boyce as an ‘idea I wish I’d had first’, The Cornershop on Apocalypse Street is a post-apocalyptic YA story, about an interdimensional cornershop that travels to different apocalypses and fixes them for free. Judges were spellbound by the originality and scope of the novel.
Many congratulations to both winners - we are all looking forward to working with you here at the Coop!
Congratulations, too, to the rest of our shortlist for reaching the final six – the judges had a tough time deciding on the final two! We’ll be providing all of you with detailed feedback based on the panel’s thoughts.
The competition will be re-opening soon for 2025 entries - watch this space for more information!
RETURN TO INKWORLD UK TOUR!
CORNELIA FUNKE IS COMING TO THE UK
THIS IS NOT A DRILL! To celebrate the launch of THE COLOUR OF REVENGE, a magical return to Inkworld after 20 YEARS, Cornelia Funke will be heading to the UK for a series of exclusive events. See more details below:
EDINBURGH, Friday 4th October
TOPPINGS & COMPANY EDINBURGH welcome Cornelia in an EXCLUSIVE Scottish event.
Book tickets HERE
CHELTENHAM, Saturday 5th October
CHELTENHAM LITERARY FESTIVAL are hosting an 'In Conversation' event between Cornelia Funke and Fun Kid's Radio's, Bex Lindsay. There will be a signing event taking place after the event.
Book tickets HERE
BATH, Sunday 6th October
BATH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL are hosting an 'In Conversation' afternoon event with Cornelia in Waterstones, Bath.
Book tickets HERE
Grab your tickets today whilst stocks last. You can also pre-order THE COLOUR OF REVENGE here.
The Times/Chicken House 2024 Shortlist is Here!
Well, that was tough! The longlist this year was super strong – so strong, in fact, that we couldn’t bear to whittle it down to only five titles.
This year we have an even split between YA and MG. From twins separated at birth to football in space, there’s mystery and history, the quirky and the heartfelt.
- A Celestial Family – Meena Mistry
- Chance and the Seventh Son – Anna Hattersley
- The Corner Shop on Apocalypse Street – Tommy Finlayson
- Earth Elite – Alan Joyce
- The Wandering – Melissa Catena
- You Have Selected Power Drive – Lucas Maxwell
Huge congratulations to our shortlisted authors. To anyone who was longlisted but didn’t reach the shortlist, never fear: we’ll be providing you with a handy reader’s report with some feedback from our team. Now, it’s over to our fantastic panel of judges to decide on the winners. We’ll be announcing the result at the end of November as well as opening next year’s competition. Watch this space!
Meet the Judges for the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition 2024!
It's time to reveal our all-star lineup of judges for the 2024 competition ...
We are so excited to showcase the amazing panel for this year's competition. Manuscript reading is underway, and the submissions portal is still open, so if you want to be in with a chance of having these incredible industry professionals read your story, make sure to head over to the submissions page. But first, read on to see who those incredible industry professionals are ...
BARRY CUNNINGHAM, PUBLISHER AND MD, CHICKEN HOUSE
Barry Cunningham has had an impressive career in publishing. After an English degree at Cambridge, he joined Penguin Books in 1977. As Children’s Marketing Director for Puffin, he worked with all the great names in children’s books including Roald Dahl and Spike Milligan, and was responsible for the re-launch of Beatrix Potter. In 1984 he was promoted to the Penguin Board and became responsible for the marketing of all Penguin Books, a position he held until 1988, when he was headhunted by Random House. In 1994 he was approached by Bloomsbury to set up their first children’s book list. Barry left Bloomsbury at the height of its success and, in early 2000, decided to start his own publishing company. The result was Chicken House, a lively and creative company publishing highly original and enjoyable children’s books, with a special emphasis on new fiction. He has been a judge for the competition since it's fruition.
LUCY BANNERMAN, THE TIMES REPORTER AND CHILDREN’S BOOK CRITIC
Lucy Bannerman is an award-winning journalist at The Times, who has been chasing stories for the past 20 years. She has reported from 24 countries around the world, covering everything from the funeral of Nelson Mandela to the Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan.
She is a regular contributor to The Times magazine, Times Radio and the Stories of Our Times podcast. As the newspaper's children's book critic, the best part of her working week is sifting through the hundreds of stories and picture books - from the fantastical and magical to the comical and historical - that arrive in the mail room every week to find the one that will become 'The Times children's book of the week.' It is the only weekly review space dedicated to children's literature in the mainstream press.
She was Young Journalist of the Year 2006 but is older now.
TIM COMPTON, CO-HEAD OF CHILDRENS, LIME PICTURES
Tim Compton is joint Head of Kids & Family (alongside Angelo Abela) at Lime Pictures. Prior to this, he was a script editor and producer at HIT Entertainment and CBBC. For Lime, Tim was the story producer and core writer on the global hit House of Anubis (Nickelodeon) and producer and co-creator of Evermoor, which was the Disney Channel's first direct drama commission from outside the US. Tim produced and wrote for Free Reign, the Emmy award-winning Netflix original and was executive producer on the Emmy-nominated limited series Zero Chill, also for Netflix. He is currently executive producer on Wereworld, Lime’s first animated series for Netflix.
LYDIA SILVER, LITERARY AGENT, DARLEY ANDERSON
Lydia Silver is a Senior Literary Agent at Darley Anderson Children’s Agency. Since joining the agency in 2018, Lydia has built a wide-ranging list of dynamic and diverse writing and illustrating talent. Among other accolades, her authors have been picked as Blackwell’s Book of the Month, been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Jhalak Prize, and won the Diverse Book Award. She was chosen as a Bookseller Rising Star in 2022.
TESSA GIRVAN, SCOUT, LUCY ABRAHAMS
Tessa is a literary scout for Children's and YA books, working with Lucy Abrahams Literary Scouting. Tessa studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge before taking up a work experience placement with a literary scout. She went on to work as a literary agent for translation, selling international rights for a wide list of Children's and YA authors. Since then, Tessa has written, edited and translated books for children, as well as moderating the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. Tessa writes fiction for both adults and young adults, and she currently works with the Professional Writing Academy, providing editorial feedback for new writers.
JOEL ROCHESTER, CONTENT CREATOR
Joel Rochester is your friendly neighbourhood cozy curator with a taste for the magical and macabre. Both an award-winning content creator, and an academic possessing a BA in Creative Writing and English Literature from Winchester. Between playing video games, browsing the nearest bookstore, and writing new stories, they possess an eagerness to embark on new adventures to undiscovered worlds.
FRANK COTTRELL-BOYCE, CHILDREN’S NOVELIST
Frank Cottrell-Boyce is a children's novelist who won the Carnegie Medal for his first book - Millions - in 2004 and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for The Unforgotten Coat in 2013. Millions was made into a film by Danny Boyle, for whom Frank went on to work as the writer on the London Olympics Opening Ceremony, 2012. His other books include Framed (filmed by the BBC), Cosmic, The Astounding Broccoli Boy and Runaway Robot. He also wrote the three official sequels to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. His films include 24 Hour Party People, God on Trial and Hilary and Jackie. His short work, The Great Rocket Robbery, was published for World Book Day in 2019. His latest novel, The Wonder Brothers, was published by Macmillan in July 2023.
LEAP YEAR OPEN COOP!
Do you wish you had a professional editor on board to help you develop your children’s novel or idea? Well, this opportunity might just be for you!
We’re delighted to announce a 24-hour open submissions period here at Chicken House, for finished or unfinished debut novels for children aged 7 up to (and including) YA, for the chance to gain mentorship from a member of our editorial team.
Writers selected during past Open Coops include Alison Weatherby (The Secrets Act) and Sabine Adeyinka (Jummy at the River School), both of whom went on to sign publishing contracts with Chicken House!
What we are offering
Our editorial team (consisting of Rachel Leyshon, Barry Cunningham and Shalu Vallepur) will pick their favourite submissions to receive feedback and mentoring. We’d love to help you develop your idea or draft into a fully-fledged children’s novel with expert editorial input.
How to submit
In order to submit, please create a single Word document including the following material and email it to opencoop@chickenhousebooks.com between 12:01am and 11:59pm (UK time) on 29 February 2024.
A cover letter of no more than a page, single spaced, including a short pitch for your story, a little about yourself, and how far along you are with writing the novel.
A synopsis of not more than a page, single spaced, describing the story you’re writing from beginning to end (no cliff-hangers!). If you haven’t decided on the full synopsis yet, that’s OK – you can detail as much of the story as you have planned.
Either the first 1,500 words or the first three chapters of your novel (whichever is longest).
Please ensure the title of your email follows this format: OPEN COOP: [Your name] [Your title]
Entry is FREE!
Please note that due to the volume of submissions we receive, we are unable to respond to entrants individually either to confirm receipt or if you have been unsuccessful. We will only be in touch if we are interested in moving forward with your submission.
What to submit
Although we encourage submissions of children’s and YA novels of all themes and subjects, here are a few ‘wish list’ items from two of our editors …
Rachel would love to see something from underrepresented groups, new perspectives, and animal stories for any age.
Shalu is interested in fantasy stories, Middle Grade or YA, that offer a fresh perspective. Own voice stories centred around culture and identity (especially food!) are always encouraged!
We can’t wait to hear about what you’re working on!
FAQs
Will I receive a confirmation email once I’ve submitted?
No – unfortunately we don’t have the ability to confirm receipt of your entry.
Can I send more than one novel/pitch?
No – Open Coop is limited to one submission per person.
Will you let me know if I’m not successful?
We will be in touch with those we’d like to take forward within 3 months of entry. Sadly if you haven’t heard from us by then, you have been unsuccessful on this occasion – but please try again next time!
Do I have to have written the full manuscript already?
No – if you have then that’s great, but at this point we’re just looking for a great idea and a sample of your writing.
What’s the difference between the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition and Open Coop – and can I enter Open Coop if I’ve already submitted to the Competition?
The Times/Chicken House Competition (which is currently open for unagented submissions) is for a full manuscript, there is an entry fee and the prize is a publishing contract. Open Coop is a much more casual affair, and not a competition – it’s for manuscripts at all stages of development, it’s free, and we’ll be looking at submission samples and offering mentorship rather than a formal prize. It’s fine for you to submit to Open Coop as well as the Times/Chicken House – even if it’s with the same book – particularly as they are assessed by two different teams of readers.
I’m under 18 – am I able to submit?
Unfortunately not – for legal reasons you must be over 18.
I don’t live in the UK. Am I eligible to submit?
Yes. We welcome all entries.
Can I submit my short story/poetry/graphic novel/picture book/non-fiction work?
No. Chicken House publishes children’s/YA fiction for ages 7+.
I have a literary agent? Can I submit?
No. Agented authors are not eligible to enter – after all, we accept ordinary submissions via all established literary agencies.
I have previously had published a short story/poem/picture book/non-fiction/academic title. Can I still enter?
Yes, you are eligible as long as you haven’t had a full-length children’s novel commercially published, anywhere in the world.
