Belfast author and illustrator Flora Delargy nominated for Yoto Carnegie award

The UK’s longest running and best-loved book awards for children and young people, The Yoto Carnegies have announced their 2023 shortlists.

The only debut book on the shortlist for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration is Rescuing Titanic by Belfast-based author and illustrator, Flora Delargy.

With “suspense and tension”, Rescuing Titanic tells the lesser-known history of the Carpathia, the little ship that heroically rescued 705 Titanic passengers, through “expansive watercolours”.

Delargy has a personal connection to the story, as her grandfather and great grandfather both worked in the Belfast Shipyards where the Titanic was built.

The Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing sees an all-female shortlist dominated by YA fiction, featuring first time shortlistings for critically acclaimed authors Jessie Burton, Patrice Lawrence, Sita Brahmachari and Manon Steffan Ros.

The shortlists include three previous winners; for the Medal for Writing, Katya Balen (2022) and Ruta Sepetys (2017), and Levi Pinfold for the Medal for Illustration (2013), alongside one debut title on each shortlist by Louise Finch and Flora Delargy respectively.

The shortlist for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration features a diverse and bold range of illustrative and artistic styles, from a manga-inspired graphic novel, to traditional Chinese paper-cutting, from sharp, simple ink drawings to expansive watercolours.

Strength of voice and originality of narrative style is celebrated, with many of the stories portraying inspirational characters or figures from real life overcoming adversity and finding strength in community and personal relationships.

The Yoto Carnegies celebrate outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration and are unique in being judged by children’s and youth librarians.

13 books have been shortlisted in total; seven for the Carnegie Medal for Writing and six for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration.

Janet Noble, chair of judges for The Yoto Carnegies 2023, said: "This year's shortlists clearly demonstrate that authors, illustrators and publishers are continuing to create outstanding books for children and young people that represent a wide range of identities, helping to ensure the diversity of experiences across the UK is reflected. Stories of bravery, compassion and community are told authentically and sensitively in a range of distinctive written and illustrative styles, with fantastic debuts taking pride of place alongside well-known names."

The winners will be announced and celebrated on Wednesday June 21 at a live and streamed lunchtime ceremony at The Barbican, hosted by former Children’s Laureate Lauren Child CBE, who won the Carnegie Medal for Illustration – then known as the Kate Greenaway Medal – in 2000 for her first Charlie and Lola book, I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato.

The winners will each receive £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice, a specially commissioned and newly designed golden medal and a £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize.

The Yoto Carnegies are sponsored by ALCS and Scholastic as the official book supplier, with First News as the official media partner for 2023.