We are delighted to announce the Bath Children’s Novel Award 2023 longlist.
Established in 2013, the Bath Novel Awards are international prizes for emerging authors and the Bath Children’s Novel Award is our prize for picture book texts, chapter books and novels for children and teens.
First of all, our huge thanks to everyone who entered this year’s prize. Between June and November authors were invited to submit chapter books, children’s novels, picture book texts and YA novels and we were thrilled to receive a a record 1,256 manuscripts. Entrants were from 42 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania and the standard was incredibly high.
While the lion’s share of submissions were novels for older children, 2023 saw a starburst in YA entries and a continued blossoming of picture book texts, which first became eligible to win last year. 2023’s longlist is 18 books strong and includes CB, MG, PB and YA manuscripts.
As submissions are read “blind” we’ll be keeping authors’ names under wraps until all judging is complete. The shortlist, as decided by an international team of Junior Judges aged seven to seventeen, will be revealed in January 2024 with the winning book, as judged by Jessica Hare of The Agency, to be announced in February.
In the meantime, many congratulations to the authors of this year’s 18 standout manuscripts.
| And the Gods Laughed |
| Beth Death |
| Catching Lady Tooth |
| Escape from Etheldra |
| Hamish Crum and the Lost Star |
| High Achievers |
| How to Save a Goddess |
| Niflheim; A Tørson Adventure |
| Outfoxed |
| Romy and the Caspian Cup |
| Scarlett Buckling and the Case of the Missing Pictures |
| Supers |
| The Blue Canoe |
| The Deepers |
| The Drowning Town |
| The Scatterling |
| The Train with No End |
| The Wonderful World of Haribo... Not the Sweet! |