We are delighted to announce the winners of the Malorie Blackman ‘Unheard Voices’ Scholarships – Congratulations to Ruth Railton, Hilary Thomas, Michael Hogben and Saraswathi Sukumar.
City Lit today announced the four winners of the 2021-22 Malorie Blackman Scholarships for ‘Unheard Voices’. City Lit provides three annual awards worth up to £1000 each to fund study within the City Lit Creative Writing department. Due to the exceptional year we have had in light of Covid-19 and other world events, City Lit took the decision to offer one additional scholarship for 2021-22. The awards seek to support and encourage the creative and professional development of ‘unheard voices’. The final award winners have been carefully selected by acclaimed writer, City Lit Fellow and Patron of the School of Humanities & Sciences, Malorie Blackman OBE.
Malorie Blackman said: “Oh my goodness! Picking the scholarship recipients doesn’t get any easier. This year the calibre of entries was so impressive that I had to read each entry at least three times before picking the winners. Huge congratulations to all the scholarship recipients. I know you’ll go from strength to strength. And to all those who entered, please don’t give up.”
The three scholarship winners submitted excerpts from their writing entitled:
Ruth Railton – Piece by Piece (poetry)
Hilary Thomas – Sajid’s Story (prose)
Michael Hogben – A First Love (prose)
Saraswathi Sukumar – The Please Lady (prose)
City Lit CEO and Principal Mark Malcomson CBE said; “We are thrilled to announce our winners for the Unheard Voices Scholarships and to have our dear friend Malorie personally selecting the winners. Malorie is a huge inspiration to all of us and her history with City Lit goes to show how important a creative writing course can be in a writer’s career. We’re so excited to uncover the next generation of story-tellers, bringing their unique perspectives to the fore.”
Malorie Blackman has a long connection with City Lit as a former student attending diverse courses since the late 1980s. Having written over fifty books, Malorie is acknowledged, as one of today’s most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers; works which further translate into captivating stories for fans of all ages on the small screen. She has been recognised with numerous honours for her work and in 2008 received an OBE for her services to children’s literature. Malorie was the Children’s Laureate between 2013 and 2015 and her autobiography will be published on Stormzy’s Merky Books imprint in 2022.
Read Q&A with Hilary Thomas >
Read Q&A with Saraswathi Sukumar >
Read Q&A with Ruth Railton >
Read Q&A with Michael Hogben >
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