Stephen Lightbown’s ‘And I Climbed And I Climbed’ shortlisted for 2024 CLiPPA Award!
We’re delighted to announce that Stephen Lightbown’s poetry collection, And I Climbed And I Climbed, illustrated by Shih-Yu Lin, has been shortlisted for the prestigious CLiPPA Award 2024.
The CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award) is the only award that celebrates outstanding poetry published for children in the UK. This year’s shortlist was announced at a live online event on Wednesday 8th May.
Roy Johnson, the book’s editor and Troika’s commercial director, said, “We couldn’t be happier for Stephen. He is an extremely talented writer who has honed his craft for many years as an adult poet and spoken word performer before embarking on a career as a children’s author. We’re honoured to have published his first book for children and thrilled that his brilliant work is receiving the recognition it deserves.”
Roy added, “This book has been an absolute pleasure to work on, from start to finish. It has very much been a team effort and I would like to thank Stephen’s and my collaborators: co-editor Shauna Darling Robertson, illustrator Shih-Yu Lin, designer Wendy Mach and production director Martin West.”
And I Climbed And I Climbed explores a young boy’s experiences of disability after he falls from the tree he loves to climb, injures his spinal chord and becomes a wheelchair user. The boy, Cosmo, writes letters to the tree as he seeks to come to terms with what’s happened and what it means for his life going forward. His letters, which are the book’s poems, take the reader on a journey of challenges, questions, hurts, discoveries and triumphs.
Stephen, who lives in Bristol with his wife Carly and son Bear, said, “I'm so happy to be shortlisted for this Award. I'm in incredible company on the shortlist and it means so much that people have responded not just to the book and the poems, but also to Cosmo and his experiences.”
Stephen Lightbown by Tilly May Photography
Mirroring Roy’s sentiments he added, “This isn't just recognition for me, because books like this don't happen without a team. I’m so grateful to everyone at Troika for making this book happen and to and Shih-Yu Lin for his amazing artwork. This is as much reward for their efforts as mine.”
Our hearty congratulations to all of the shortlisted titles, which also include:
A Dinosaur at the Bus Stop by Kate Wakeling (Otter-Barry Books)
Balam and Lluvia’s House by Julio Serrano Echeverría, translated by Lawrence Schimel (The Emma Press)
My Heart Is A Poem by Various (Little Tiger)
The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow (Otter-Barry Books).
The winner will be announced at a special ceremony in London’s National Theatre on Friday 12th July and live-streamed to audiences across the UK and beyond.
This year’s CLiPPA judging panel is chaired by Award-winning poet Liz Berry, joined by teacher and writer Darren Chetty, Billie Manning of the Poetry Society, Imogen Maund, teacher and UKLA representative, and poet Laura Mucha, who was shortlisted for the CLiPPA in 2022.
You can find out more about the CLiPPA and the 2024 Awards at https://clpe.org.uk/poetry/CLiPPA
Discover more about And I Climbed And I Climbed, poet Stephen Lightbown and illustrator Shih-Yu Lin.
Read Stephen’s earlier blog about how and why he came to write And I Climbed And I Climbed: Stephen Lightbown explores a boy’s experiences of disability in this profoundly authentic new poetry collection.
