Rosemary Sutcliff won the Carnegie Medal for The Lantern Bearers in 1959, and was runner-up in 1972 for Tristan and Iseult – and its most recent winner is announced today. The Medal is perhaps the UK’s most prestigious award for writing for children, the longest standing certainly, awarded every year in the UK to the writer of an outstanding book for children. The Library Association started the prize in 1936, in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), a great supporter of reading and libraries.
First awarded to Arthur Ransome for Pigeon Post, the medal is now awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. The winner receives a golden medal and some £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice.
Rosemary Sutcliff also:
- Was runner-up for Carnegie Medal for Tristan and Iseult in 1972
- Won the Boston-Globe Horn Book Award for Tristan and Iseult in 1972
- Was highly commended by the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1974
- Won The Other Award for Song for a Dark Queen in 1978
- Won The Phoenix Children’s Book Award for The Mark of the Horse Lord in 1985, and The Shining Company in 2010
