ALCS Annual Awards ceremony celebrates literacy, creativity and educational writing
- How To Love: A Guide to Feelings & Relationships for Everyone, written by Alex Norris, wins the 2024 ALCS Educational Writers' Award.
- Author Tom Percival wins the Ruth Rendell Award for outstanding commitment to promoting literacy
- Lisa Blower wins the 2025 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize for her story 'Blessing in Burslem'
LONDON, Feb. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The ALCS Annual Awards, hosted by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), features the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize, Ruth Rendell Award and the ALCS Educational Writers' Award. The ceremony took place at the Goldsmith's Centre in London on 20 February and was hosted by multi-award-winning children's author, playwright and poet, Joseph Coelho, who was Children Laureate from 2022 to 2024.
The ALCS Educational Writers' Award, launched by ALCS and the Society of Authors in 2008, is the UK's only award for educational writing that inspires creativity, encourages students to read widely and builds up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications.
The award was won by How To Love: A Guide to Feelings & Relationships for Everyone, a guide to relationships of all shapes and sizes aimed at teenagers, written and illustrated by popular webcomic artist Alex Norris.
This year's judges were School Library Services' librarian Cassie Hands, primary school teacher Kevin Cobane, and novelist and short story writer Ardashir Vakil.
Judge Kevin Cobane said: "How to Love was a book that won the hearts and minds of all of the judges. Warm, witty and wise, and beautifully illustrated throughout, this is an accessible, inclusive and insightful guide to friendships, relationships and love in all its many forms. Brimming with empathy and compassion, Alex's brilliantly written and illustrated book will resonate with teens and adults alike and this is a book that should be in every school and library."
The Ruth Rendell Award, launched by ALCS and the National Literacy Trust in 2016, recognises the writer or author who has had the most significant influence on literacy in the UK over the past year.
The award was presented to author Tom Percival for his work promoting literacy in disadvantaged communities. His book, The Wrong Shoes, highlights the levels of inequality in the UK today, with £1 of every sale donated to the National Literacy Trust to promote literacy. He also spoke about the joys of reading to over 1,000 children in some of the UK's most deprived schools and donated over 15,000 books to young readers.
Judge Di Redmond said: "Tom Percival has a Robin Hood talent for directing support to those who need it most, gifting 15,000 books to National Literary Trust communities around the UK as well as donating his appearance fee to local food banks when promoting his latest book. Whist travelling the country entertaining thousands of children he's raised vital funding for schools and libraries, and gifted books into the hands of young people, many of whom previously didn't even own a book of their own."
The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize was founded by the Royal Society of Literature in 1999 and is awarded to the best unpublished short story between 2,000 to 4,000 words in length.
Lisa Blower was awarded the prize for her story 'Blessing in Burslem', receiving £1,000 and the publication of her winning entry in the RSL Review.
Stories are judged anonymously by a panel of writers. This year's judges were Tash Aw, Tania Hershman and Fiona Mozley.
Judge Tania Hershman said: "This brilliantly written short story brings in so many enormous topics so lightly: the idea of not belonging, how it is to move through the world with the colour of skin you are born in, and with the body you have grown into, and what it is to feel whole and be truly seen. A piece of writing that offers a reader more and more each time you read it, I feel privileged to have been one of those who could make sure it finds its way out into the world with all of the celebration it deserves."
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EDITOR'S NOTES
Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS)
ALCS is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers' work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal for writers. It represents over 125,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £700million to writers.
Society of Authors (SoA)
The Society of Authors is the UK trade union for all types of writers, illustrators and literary translators, at all stages of their careers. They have more than 11,500 members and have been advising individuals and speaking out for the profession for more than a century. In 2023 they gave out just over £1M in grants and prizes. In all, the Society of Authors administers twenty-one prizes, including the ALCS Educational Writers' Award and the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award.
Royal Society of Literature (RSL)
Founded in 1820, the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is the UK's charity for the advancement of literature. We act as a voice for the value of literature, engage people in great literature, and encourage and honour writers at all stages of their careers.
The RSL's awards and prizes celebrate the value of writing in all its forms, whilst supporting emerging and established writers at some of the most challenging moments of their careers.
National Literacy Trust (NLT)
The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity that empowers children, young people, and adults with the literacy skills they need to succeed. Reading, writing, speaking and listening skills give you the tools to get the most out of life, and the power to shape your future. For over 30 years the National Literacy Trust has continued to support schools, families and communities on a local and national level to help people change their stories.
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