I read the email announcing Nicky Johnston and I had won this year’s Crystal Kite Award with, At The End of Holyrood Lane several times before realisation (literally) crystallised into tears, lots of them. Enough to prevent speech. For a good many minutes.
All the usual words like, disbelief, gratitude, joy, honour, delight, thrilled, unexpected, over-awed can’t even begin to describe the flood of feelings associated with an accolade like this but the word that keeps floating to the top of this lovely muddle of emotions is relief.
Relief in the sense of extreme happiness, deep satisfaction and a kind of beautiful recompense for all the hard work Nicky and I put into this book, and the belief our publisher, EK Books accorded it.
Relief coupled with a shared hope that this award will raise awareness of the issues faced by children experiencing domestic violence and make this book more accessible to children who are faced with weathering domestic storms.
Relief that so many of our peers found a connection with Flick’s story and felt a mutual need support the book in such a positive public way.
Without that support, our stories and pictures are just meaningless scribbles on a page. With love and appreciation, they become something altogether more magical. THANK YOU!
Winning the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award not only validates the worth of our creative efforts but is further testimony of the value of belonging to like-mind communities like, the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators, where one can connect, support, applaud, learn, inspire and share great stories, together.
In that sense, we are all winners.
Dimity Powell