Neil Gaiman Joins Judging Panel for 2024 Folio Book Illustration Award

The Folio Society has announced that Neil Gaiman will be a guest judge for its annual Folio Book Illustration Award. He will be judging work based on his short story The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains.
 
The third year of the free-to-enter competition is now up-and-running and open to illustrators, student or professional, who have not previously been commissioned by The Folio Society, with the aim of finding, platforming and supporting new illustration talent from around the world.
 
Selected from a shortlist of six, the winning entrant will receive a £2,000 cash prize plus a £500 Folio Gift Voucher, and for the first time their winning artwork will be commissioned to appear in a forthcoming limited edition of Gaiman’s short stories. The five runners-up will each receive a £500 Folio Gift Voucher.
 
Neil Gaiman said: “The Folio Society consistently make some of the most beautiful books in the world. I'm thrilled that they will be making an original and unique collection of my stories, to sit on the shelves as an object of beauty or (I hope) taken off the shelves to be read and enjoyed.”
 
Gaiman will be joined on the judging panel by last year’s FBIA winner, Cristina Bencina, and Folio Art Directors Sheri Gee and Raquel Leis Allion along with Tom Walker, Publisher. Bencina was selected from nearly 750 entries from 58 countries for her illustration of Ursula K. Le Guin’s ‘The Fliers of Gy’. 
 
Tom Walker, Publishing Director at The Folio Society added: “We’re thrilled to have Neil Gaiman judging alongside us for this third iteration of the FBIA. Folio has published many of Neil’s novels, and to be working with him on a limited edition of his short stories is a dream come true. Rich in visual imagery, and a story to read over and again, The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains is just so inviting for illustrators. We can’t wait to see the range of artwork it inspires.”
 
The Award closes at midnight UK time, on April 3, 2024. A longlist of 20 entries, selected by the judging panel, will be exhibited on The Folio Society website from June 2024 with the five runners-up and one winner announced online in July 2024. T&Cs available at foliosociety.com/FolioBIA