Children’s writer Tamsin is up for a national award
COUNTY TEACHER IS SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES’ BOOK PRIZE
A COUNTY writer has been shortlisted for a national literary prize.
Tamsin Winter was announced yesterday as one of six nominees to have been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020 for her novel, Jemima Small Versus The Universe.
She has been nominated in the Older Fiction category.
Every year, Waterstones’ expert booksellers are called upon to vote for the books they believe are the very best in new children’s writing and illustration.
Now in its 16th year, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize has become a major platform for emerging talent, demonstrating its enduring relevance by bringing the best new books to readers’ attention every year and launching the careers of many children’s book authors and illustrators.
In Jemima Small Versus the Universe, Winter tells the story of a funny and super smart lead character who nevertheless sometimes feels like nothing.
This is especially true when she is made to join the school’s “special” healthy lifestyle group – aka Fat Club.
Her tale of body image, selfesteem and self-acceptance is written with sensitivity and well-judged humour.
Tamsin studied English Literature and Creative Writing and now works
JEMIMA SMALL VERSUS THE UNIVERSE
BY TAMSIN WINTER
JEMIMA Small is funny and smart. She knows a lot of things. Like the fact that she’s made of 206 bones, over 600 muscles and trillions of cells.
What she doesn’t know is how that can be true and yet she can still sometimes feel like nothing...or how being made to join the school’s “special” healthy lifestyle group - aka Fat Club - could feel any less special.
But Jemima also knows that the biggest stars in the universe are the brightest. And maybe it’s her time to shine. as an English teacher at Harington School in Oakham.
Her first novel, Being Miss Nobody, won the Calderdale Book of the Year, the Leicester Secondary Book of the Year and the Hillingdon Secondary Book of the Year.
It was also nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2018 and selected as a Reading Agency Book of the Year and a Reading Rampage 2018 book.
Of the latest honour, Tamsin said: “I am absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for the brilliant Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.
“It’s a huge accolade to be selected and I am so thrilled that Jemima’s story of body positivity has resonated with Waterstones’ readers.”
Last year’s winner, The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf, Waterstones’ most successful winner yet, shot to the top of the bestseller charts following the Prize announcement and the novel saw an increase in sales of over 500 per cent.
The shortlists consist of 18 books across three categories - Books for Younger Readers, Books for Older Readers and Illustrated Books.
Six books will compete within each category to be crowned Category Winner, with the three category winners then vying for the overall title of Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year 2020.
The winners will be announced at an evening reception at Waterstones Piccadilly in London, Europe’s largest bookshop, on March 26.
The winner of each category will receive £2,000, with the overall winner receiving an extra £3,000.
In the event that the prize is awarded to a partnership, then the prize money will be split equally between the joint winners.
The winning authors and illustrators will also see a significant boost in sales, and the promise of an ongoing commitment to their writing career from all Waterstones shops nationwide.