I am so thrilled for Katy Alston, whose gorgeous illustrations of our collaboration ‘Fan-peckled’ have this week won the very prestigious Michael Marks Illustration Award!

Katy’s work is so characterful, its combination of playfulness, close observation and nuance was absolutely perfect for the Fan-peckled poems. I never thought of asking anyone else if they would do it, and I am so pleased for her. Our publisher, Nadia Kingsley of Fair Acre Press, also got a mention from the judge for the fine typography of the book, especially he picked out the sloping titles to Glid.

The judge, Sir Nicholas Penny, who was Director of the National Gallery, London from 2008 to 2015, told us he couldn’t recall enjoying illustrations of poetry more than in our book. Oh, we are very happy!