Carnegie Medal (literary award)

Not to be confused with Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction.

The Carnegie Medal for Writing
Awarded forOutstanding new English-language book for children or young adults
Sponsored byScholastic, ALCS
Reward(s)£5,000
First awarded1936; 88 years ago (1936)
Last awardedActive
Websitecarnegies.co.uk

The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936 as the Carnegie Medal, is a British literary award for English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who in 2016 called it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing".[1] From 2022 to 2024, the award was sponsored by the audio technology company Yoto and was called the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing.[2]

Nominated books must be written in English and first published in the UK during the preceding school year (September to August).[3] Until 1969, the award was limited to books by British authors first published in England.[4] The first non-British medalist was Australian author Ivan Southall for Josh (1972). The original rules also prohibited winning authors from future consideration.[4] The first author to win a second Carnegie Medal was Peter Dickinson in 1981, who won consecutively for Tulku and City of Gold. As of 2024, eight authors had received the Medal more than once.

The winner is awarded a gold medal and £500 worth of books donated to the winner's chosen library. In addition, since 2016 the winner has received a £5,000 cash prize from the Colin Mears bequest.[5][6]

  1. ^ "About the Awards". The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Yoto to sponsor Carnegie and Greenaway Book Awards". The Bookseller. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference rules was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cullinan, Bernice E.; Goetz Person, Diane (2005). The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 149.
  5. ^ "The CILIP Carnegie Medal". The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Colin Mears bequest consultation". Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2019.[permanent dead link‍]