Alice Corrie Award

The Alice Corrie Award honours the work of a much-missed editor, colleague and friend.

As an editor, Alice was kind and wise and endlessly enthusiastic. She was also utterly fabulous, much like her own picture book character, Fifi the Flamenco Flamingo. In recognition of Alice’s all round brilliance, Orange Beak are proud to be running this award again which offers unpublished authors the chance to shine and to have the opportunity to be assessed and advised by an industry professional.

Alongside her career in children’s publishing, Alice was a cherished Orange Beak team member and the feedback she gave to many clients on their stories was invaluable. It is Orange Beak’s privilege to recognise Alice’s work as an amazingly talented editor and champion of picture book making, especially with new and aspiring picture book authors, by inviting applicants for this award, to ‘follow your dreams and be fabulous.’

ABOUT ALICE

Alice worked for many years as an editor at Random House (now Penguin Random House) and as a freelance editor and project manager. Alice worked on many, many books and with many authors and illustrators including Michael Morpurgo, Polly Dunbar, Philip Pullman, Emma Perry, Rikin Parekh, Kristina Stephenson, Clara Vulliamy, Sarah McIntyre, Pam Smy and Marjorke Henrichs.

Alice’s vibrant intelligence and dedication to children’s books was matched by her empathetic approach to authors as expressed by Michael Morpurgo: Said Michael Morpurgo of Alice: ‘She has, in my view, a unique insight, knowledge and understanding of how to make a story into a great book, a sensitive editor, a keen eye for detail, with a real feel for illustration and design. She’s a person I very soon realised I could rely on.’

It is Orange Beak’s wish to continue to advocate for new authors in Alice’s name.

PRIZES

There are 2 winning prizes:

Each winner will receive £300, alongside this they will be offered the chance to meet with an editorial industry professional online.

JUDGES

The award will be judged by the Orange Beak team and the special editorial judges of: Sarah Pakenham, Publisher, Scallywagg Press and Helen Mackenzie Smith, Picture Books Publisher, Simon & Schuster Children’s Books.

KEY DATES

The competition runs from Nov 6th 2025 until 5pm on 3rd March 2026 (UK Time Zone).
The x2 winners will be announced on 28th May 2026.

The entries are £12 each through Eventbrite with some proceeds going to Child Bereavement UK

www.childbereavementuk.org/

See www.orangebeakstudio.com/alice-corrie-award for all key information and FAQ