Search begins for 10th winner of Kim Scott Walwyn Prize

For the 10th year, the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize is delighted to call for entries and nominations. The national prize managed by the Prize Committee and reading charity Booktrust, and run in association with the Society of Young Publishers and the Publishing Training Centre, celebrates women’s achievements and potential in their publishing careers.

Founded in 2003, the Prize honours the life and career of Kim Scott Walwyn – who was Publishing Director at Oxford University Press and who died in 2002. Kim was widely regarded as a dynamic and exceptional publisher who served as a mentor to numerous people entering the industry. The Prize recognises women who exhibit the qualities that marked Kim’s own career and the careers of those she encouraged: excellence in any area of publishing and the ability to show initiative and creativity in their work.

Anne Perry, Editor at Hodder & Stoughton and Founder of The Kitschies, who won the 2014 Prize said:
‘I’m incredibly proud to have won the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize. The publishing industry works hard to distinguish individual books – as it should – but the KSW Prize is special because it recognises the people behind the scenes, and particularly celebrates promising young women at the beginnings of their careers. I’m enormously honoured to be counted among them.’

The 2015 Prize is open to any woman who has worked in publishing in the UK for up to seven years. Applicants can nominate themselves by filling in an online entry form by 5pm, Friday 20 February 2015. Alternatively, anyone working within the publishing industry is invited to nominate up to two candidates (colleagues, employees or managers) for the Prize by completing an online nomination form before 5pm, Friday 30 January 2015. Nominees will be contacted by Booktrust by 5pm, Wednesday 4 February 2015 and asked to fill in an entry form by 5pm, Friday 20 February 2015.

The 2015 shortlist will be announced in April and the winner will be revealed at a ceremony at the Free Word Centre in Central London on Wednesday 20 May 2015. Booktrust and the Prize Committee are delighted to announce that this year’s keynote speaker at the event will be international bestselling author Kate Mosse OBE.

The winner of the Prize receives £1,000, sponsored by the SYP, and two days of training of their choice at the PTC. Shortlisted candidates will also receive a one-day training course courtesy of the PTC.

This year’s judges are:

• Denise Johnstone-Burt – Publisher, Walker Books (Co-chair of judges)
• Catherine Clarke – Literary Agent and Managing Director, Felicity Bryan Associates (Co-chair ofjudges)
• Nicki Crossley – SYP Vice-chair 2010 and Commissioning Editor for Coronet, an imprint ofHodder & Stoughton
• Professor Dame Hermione Lee CBE – biographer and President of Wolfson College, Oxford
• Anne Perry – KSW Prize 2014 winner, Editor at Hodder & Stoughton and Founder of The
• Kitschies
• Helen Youngs – SYP Chair 2014 and Publishing Recruitment Consultant (Trade), InspiredSelection

Co-chair of Judges Denise Johnstone-Burt said:
‘This year marks the tenth of the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize. Over the last decade, the winners of this prestigious prize have highlighted the quality and ability of women working in the publishing industry. To continue this important recognition and celebration of the achievement and potential of women in publishing the judges of this year’s Prize want to urge as many women as possible to fill in an application and put themselves forward.’
Previous winners of the Prize hail from rights to editorial, agenting to bookselling including: Lynette Owen (OBE), former Copyright Director of Pearson Education (2004); Penelope Hoare, former Deputy Managing Director at Chatto & Windus (2005); Annette Thomas, CEO of Macmillan (2007); Clare Alexander, Partner at Aitken Alexander Associates (2008); Kathy Rooney, Managing Director of Bloomsbury Information (2009); Kay Peddle, former Editor, The Bodley Head and now an Editor for Lacuna Magazine (2011); Rukhsana Yasmin, former Commissioning Editor, Westbourne Press, and now a Freelance Editor (2012); and Miriam Robinson, former Head of Marketing at Foyles (2013).

• More information, including the Prize terms & conditions, online entry form and nomination form are available at www.booktrust.org.uk/ksw

Press enquiries should be directed to: harriet.jackson@booktrust.org.uk | 020 7801 8848 | 07870636099
Entry queries should be addressed to: ksw@booktrust.org.uk