The Kitschies' Inky Tentacle is presented to the year's most progressive, intelligent and entertaining cover art for a book containing elements of the speculative or fantastic. (That's a mouthful.)
Last year - the inaugural year for the Inky - we had a brilliant panel of judges from a variety of artistic disciplines, including comics, fine art and television. They each brought their own unique perspective on art and design into the mix, as well as a (very) rich discussion of the award's criteria.
There was a fiercely competitive shortlist, but Glen Duncan's The Last Werewolf, designed by Peter Mendelsund, clawed its way to victory. You can read his acceptance speech here.
This year, we're pleased to continue the traditions of diversity and discussion with with three amazing talents:
Gary Northfield has been writing and drawing kids' comics for nearly 10 years. Famous for his crazy (and creator-owned!) Beano character, Derek the Sheep, he has also worked for The Dandy, Horrible Histories Magazine, Horrible Science Magazine, The DFC and The Magical World of Roald Dahl. He currently beavers away on strips for The Phoenix and National Geographic Kids, with a graphic novel about little dinosaurs due in 2013. (@gnorthfield)
Lauren O'Farrell is an author, traveller, artist, graffiti knitting pioneer, photographer and wrestler of giant squids. She's the founder of the UK's largest craft community, Stitch London and has been sneakily stitching graffiti knitting as 'Deadly Knitshade' since 2007. She's responsible for unleashing Plarchie, an 8-metre giant squid and The Kitschies' unofficial mascot, into the world. Her books include Stitch London, Knit the City and the upcoming Stitch New York. (@deadlyknitshade)
Ed Warren is a Creative Director and founding partner of London-based advertising agency Creature. Over the years he's worked at agencies like Mother, DLKW and Lowe London and has been responsible for award winning ads for PG Tips, Pot Noodle, adidas, Match.com, Frank and Amnesty International to name but a few. He is also a screenwriter. (@creature_ed)
Gary, Lauren and Ed's backgrounds encompass art, craft, illustration, advertising and film. They're also all very nice people and promise not to break anything during the judging sessions. Jared will be acting as the fourth judge this year.
This year's literary judges (Red and Golden Tentacles) include Patrick Ness and Rebecca Levene. For more about The Kitschies and the submissions process, please see www.thekitschies.com. Submissions for 2012 titles open on 1 June - please read the criteria carefully. We all look forward to poking and prodding this year's entries.
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