EVENTS Undiscovered Voices




Are you an un-agented and unpublished SCBWI member living in the UK or Europe? Well, you're in luck. Undiscovered Voices is back. Not only will this give writers a chance to showcase their work to agents and publishers but winners will be featured in the UV2024 Anthology. Submissions open from 15 June, so plenty of time to get those manuscripts polished. 


We are delighted to announce that Undiscovered Voices is nearly upon us with submissions opening from 15th June – 20th July 2023. That's plenty of time to give your work-in-progress a final polish, ready to enter this year’s competition for a chance to showcase your writing to agents and publishers.
 

As ever, the Undiscovered Voices anthology UV2024 will celebrate a diverse range of un-agented and unpublished children’s fiction from members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) British Isles and Europe.
 

But what is different this time is that a brand-new team is running UV2024! We are all UV finalists, and we are picking up the baton from the previous committee who all did such an amazing job for so many years. Thank you all so much! Here is the new UV2024 team:



Imogen White – Chair

Laura Warminger – Vice Chair/administrator

Susan Brownrigg – Events, website and mentor liaison

Katrina Charman – Events

Claire O’Brien – Judging Panel liaison

Adam Connor – Website technical

Victoria Benstead-Hume – Submissions

Rosie Best – Working Partners liaison

Elizabeth Brahy – EU SCWBI liaison


The new 2023-2024 UV team


Whilst the competition’s format remains the same, we are pushing hard to find more diverse voices by partnering with fabulous groups like Megaphone, All Stories and others. Plus, we have tweaked the submission process, so please stay tuned for further announcements – including the stellar line-up of this year’s judging panel of top agents and editors. Oh, and a rather brilliant Honorary Chair too!” Imogen White, UV Chair.


The winners of Undiscovered Voices are published in an anthology


A quick UV re-cap. As a reminder for anyone new to SCWBI or those needing a refresh, the UV competition runs every two years. A judging panel of top literary agents and editors will select the finalists who will appear in the Undiscovered Voices Anthology 2024 and be invited to attend the UV party held in London.


UV successes. Undiscovered Voices has launched the careers of many authors and illustrators from the eight previous anthologies. Publishing contracts for more than 400 books have been received, with nominations and wins for more than 160 literary prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, Branford Boase Award, Blue Peter Award, the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, and more than 30 regional awards.

 




So, what have we got planned this time? Well, in the build-up to the opening of the submissions window, you can expect the following:


·       Blogs full of writing hints and tips will appear on the UV website.


·       The Kick-Off event is planned for April, where we will put your questions to the judges and find out precisely what they are looking for.


·       Following this, in May, there will be our Masterclasses, ensuring you are equipped with all the right skills for that standout submission.


Plus, we will be unveiling our new logo very soon! Exciting.


Who can enter? UV2024 is FREE to enter, but only un-agented and unpublished members of SCWBI living in the UK and Europe (writing in the English language) are eligible.


Who were the UV2022 finalists? Why not check out the stunning anthology entries from the last competition, so you can see the quality and enjoy the talent:




 

Finally, we would like to give a huge shout-out to the incredible Working Partners, whose generous funding enables Undiscovered Voices to grow year after year, discovering new talent and providing the platform needed to get them noticed. Thank you, Working Partners – we couldn’t do this without you.


Undiscovered Voices submissions open: 15th June – 20th July 2023.

Good luck, everyone! From all of us at Team UV2024

*Images courtesy of Undiscovered Voices

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Stephanie Cotela is the Network News & Events Editor for Words & Pictures Magazine.





1 comment:

  1. Great to see…an exciting project. Have just become a member of SCBWI. Have done Illustrated botanical work, comic on TB for the Wellcome Collection and one attempt at self publishing…does this allow me to enter?..I have never had an agent or been published by a ‘real’ publisher. Diana Boyer

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