CLAIRVOYANTS!
Dwie Siostry Publishing House is calling for submissions for the 2020 Clairvoyants international competition for an illustrated children’s book. The competition is open to authors, illustrators, graphic designers, and aims to discover talented artists & children’s books authors and give them a chance to become known both on the Polish and on the international book market.
Entrants are asked to prepare a project (draft) of an illustrated children’s book in Polish or in the English language. Submission should include a storyboard or a script of the whole book, together with 3 finished double spreads and a summary in English (obligatory) and in Polish (only if the whole project is in Polish).
Competitors may be awarded 3 categories of prizes:
1. The main prize of EUR 2,500;
2. Book publication;
3. Participation of best competing works in the post-competition exhibition.
The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2020.
Details of the Competition
The children’s books world is intriguing and inexhaustible and there is still a lot to discover. In our publishing house we always support artists and authors that pay special attention to the quality of children’s books, both in terms of their content and form. Therefore, once again we invite authors, illustrators, graphic designers and all book lovers from Poland and abroad to participate in the international competition for an illustrated children’s book project Clairvoyants!
Due to the ongoing epidemic situation, 2020 edition will be a bit different than the editions organized in the past. We slightly changed the rules of submitting the projects and the organization of the jury session, and we have prepared a special surprise for the winners!
This is already the fourth edition of the contest. Over 1,500 entries from all over the world were submitted to the three previous editions! More and more books based on the awarded projects can be already found on bookshelves and we have been working with other Clairvoyant participants on the new, upcoming books.
After each edition of the CLAIRVOYANTS, the most captivating entries are compiled to create a post-competition exhibition. Exhibitions from three previous editions have been travelling all over Poland and were exhibited in many schools, libraries and cultural institutions.
The aim of the competition is to launch the process of creating beautiful and valuable books for children and to give the opportunity to talented authors, illustrators and book designers to become known on the book market. We want to stimulate the artists’ imagination and encourage them to create well-thought and refined book projects, that have a real chance to become published books. Participants should demonstrate creativity, skilfulness, sensitivity and understanding of the children’s world. The competition is aimed primarily at book designers, students of art schools, illustrators and authors, but we invite everyone to try their hand!
For the second time in a row the Clairvoyants competition has been recognized by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and has received the financial support from the Culture Promotion Fund.
What will the fourth – pandemic – edition of CLAIRVOYANTS look like?
We invite debutants and experienced artists from Poland and abroad to participate in the competition, performing individually or as a team. Participants must be at least 18 years old.
The purpose of the competition is to prepare a project (draft) of an illustrated children’s book in Polish or in English language. Submission should include a storyboard or a script of the whole book, together with 3 finished double spreads and a summary in English (obligatory) and in Polish (only if the whole project is in Polish).
The novelty of this edition is that the works should be submitted online only!
Applications must be made by the 15th of December 2020. To enter the competition you have to:
a) fill-in the online application form
and
b) upload the digital files containing the competition project to the online application form or include in the form a direct link to the files, from which the files can be downloaded.
We will not accept applications sent by traditional mail. Competition works should only be submitted as digital files.
The application process is described in detail in the FAQ section.
If you are looking for an illustrator or author to create a competition project together, we invite you to the new Facebook group „JASNOWIDZE, łączcie się! / CLAIRVOYANTS, get together!”. You may find your creative team partner there!
The submitted entries will be assessed by two independent juries:
1. The international jury: Jutta Bauer, Romana Romanyszyn, Joanna Olech and Piotr Socha.
2. The Dwie Siostry Publishing jury: Ewa Stiasny, Jadwiga Jędryas, Maciej Byliniak.
Submitted projects will be assessed according to the following criteria: artistic quality, originality, the form which inspires child’s imagination and the content which is aware of the child’s sensitivity. This year the jury sitting will take place in remote mode, via Internet.
Competitors may be awarded with three different prizes:
- The main prize of EUR 2,500 and two honourable mentions – by the international jury;
- Book publication – by the Dwie Siostry Publishing House jury;
- Admission in the post-competition exhibition.
This time an additional surprise awaits the winners!
At the end of May 2021, just after the opening of the post-competition exhibition, we will invite the authors of the awarded and mentioned entries to take part in masterclass workshops lead by the jurors of the fourth edition of the competition!
Competition results will be announced on the 1st of April 2021.
Before submitting a project please read the regulations as well as the FAQ section.
Competition regulations:
Apply here: ONLINE APPLICATION FORM
Press-info: PDF
