4 December 2018

Cath Senker has won the 2018 Educational Writers’ Award – the UK's only award for creative educational writing – for her book Far From Home: Refugees and Migrants Fleeing War, Persecution and Poverty, on the sensitive portrayal of mass migration in the 21st Century.

The result was announced this afternoon at the All Party Parliamentary Writers Group (APWG) Winter Reception at the House of Commons. Tom Watson MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Shadow Culture Secretary presented winning author, Cath Senker, with a cheque for £2,000.

Far From Home (published by Franklin Watts) examines the reasons behind the recent worldwide mass migrations of people due to war, extreme poverty and persecution, explaining some of the specific conflicts, political situations and cultural issues that dominate the headlines surrounding refugees and migrants. 

This year’s judges – Philip Arkinstall, a curriculum leader for History in a Wiltshire secondary school; Elspeth Graham, a prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction for children; and Océane Toffoli, a senior school librarian and Vice-Chair of CILIP YLG London – said of the winning title:

"This heart-breaking, powerful and very special book takes a thoughtful and relevant look at a subject we all need to understand and care about. It fully utilises every page, from the maps on the inside covers to the timeline, glossary and further reading section and is extremely readable and accessible for its secondary school audience.

"Never giving in to media stereotypes, it also provides a clear and compassionate catalyst for discussions about the plight of refugees, highlighting individual experiences and presenting different viewpoints in an impeccably non-judgmental way."

Now in its eleventh year, the 2018 Educational Writers’ Award focused on books for 11-18-year-olds, published in 2016 and 2017. Far From Home beat off strong competition from the four other titles shortlisted for this year’s Award, including: Loos Saves Lives by Seren Boyd (Wayland); How To Think Like A Coder by Jim Christian and illustrated by Paul Boston (Batsford); From Prejudice to Pride by Amy Lamé (Wayland); and The Story Of Painting, written and illustrated by Mick Manning and Brita Granström (Franklin Watts).

Find out more about the shortlisted entries.