For this 2nd edition of
the International Serpa Picturebook Prize, the jury has selected “The Endfixer”
by Noemi Vola (Italy) as the winner. Additionally, three other entries have also
been given honorable mentions: “Picnic”, by Maria Ramos Bravo (Spain); “Boleia”
(Ride), by Guilherme Frederico Karsten (Brazil) and “An Ideal Zoo”, by
“Yiting Lee” (Taiwan).
The jury’s quality
standards were set on finding a “striking artwork and a good story”. The jury found that “some
submissions had strong artwork but a weak story and others had a great story
but the artwork would have been unable to carry it.”
“The strength of a picturebook often comes down to how tightly it is
edited. It takes a long time to eek out and craft a very good story. We would
have been very surprised if we found in the submissions a manuscript that was
fit for publishing as it is right there and then without the skills of an
editor, so what we were looking for was a great premise and story that could
eventually be developed into a good book with some editing.”
This year’s winner has
been recognised for the originality and strong potential of its story and
illustration: “Our chosen project, “The End Fixer,” is a very original story. It
features a quite idealistic narrator of the story explaining his/her
dissatisfaction with the endings of stories. He/she waxes lyrical about the
unlimited possibilities of stories, but, meanwhile, along comes some behind-the-scenes
staff who are more pragmatic and are just trying to end the story.”
“There is a strong dynamic, there is tension around the ending, where two
sides are arguing over the nature of the ending and there is opportunity for a
narrative twist on every page leading to the end. It is original, funny and has
strong potential. The artwork too is very strong and we were sure that this is
a very competent illustrator.”
“One of our favourite things about the medium of picture books is that
there can be a tension or miss-match between image and text. The text says one
thing but the pictures say another. We think this makes a very strong picture
book and children especially love the humour that comes from this. This story
makes use of this very well and with a little editing has the potential to
crank this up a few notches.”
While going through all the projects, they found a number of good
quality submissions that could not go unnoticed. In regards to the honorable
mentions, the jury adds: “We chose to highlight a few other projects because
they all caught our eye and we felt they also could also make strong books. We
also wanted to encourage these author-illustrators who narrowly missed out on
the prize this time.”
The jury of this second edition included Chris Haughton,
author/illustrator; Bernardo P. Carvalho, in representation of the publisher
Planeta Tangerina; and Paula Estorninho, representing the Serpa Municipality.
The winning author of the Serpa Prize will finalize the book in close
collaboration with Planeta Tangerina. “The Endfixer” will be part of Planeta
Tangerina’s catalogue and will be released by May 2018.
Congratulation to the awarded authors and thank you to all participants!
