Wednesday 8 July 2026: Asli Jensen is the winner of the 2026 Branford Boase Award for the year’s outstanding debut novel for young people for her contemporary romance Love on Sight. The Branford Boase Award is unique in honouring editor as well as author and Asli shares the win with her editor, Shalini Vallepur, of Chicken House.
Asli Jensen was born and raised in West London and is of Somali and Danish descent. Her writing draws on untold stories and unheard voices, including her own. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck University and has previously been published in Stylist Magazine. Love on Sight was written partly while Asli was working in the youth justice system, drawing on the young people she came to know there. The book was recognised early with the Lime New Storyteller Award in the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition.
Shalini (Shalu) Vallepur is an editor at Chicken House. She started out writing and editing children’s non-fiction before moving into fiction, and reads widely across fantasy, sci-fi and speculative fiction. She has worked with Asli Jensen on Love on Sight since the Times/Chicken House competition in 2023.
This year’s judges are Margaret McDonald, winner of the 2025 Branford Boase Award for Glasgow Boys; Stephen Dilley, Head of English at Kendrick School; Anjali Patel, Lead Advisory Teacher at CLPE; and Katherine Woodfine, children’s author and reviewer for The Week Junior. The judging panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare, co-founder of the Branford Boase Award and former children’s director of the Hay Festival.
Founded in 2000, the Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase of Walker Books, who both died in 1999, and is unique in honouring editor as well as author. It is regarded as one of the most important awards in children’s books and has an impressive record in picking out star authors at the start of their careers. Previous winners include Meg Rosoff, Liz Hyder, Marcus Sedgwick, M.G. Leonard and Frances Hardinge. Winning editors include JK Rowling’s editor Barry Cunningham, Philip Pullman’s editor David Fickling and Fiona Kennedy, publisher of Michelle Paver, Marcus Sedgwick and Sally Gardner.
The shortlisted authors may have published other books in another genre, for example poetry or a picture book, but eligibility for the prize requires that this is their first children’s novel.
As well as encouraging publishers to find and promote new writers, the Award sets out to alert readers of all ages to the work of interesting newcomers.
The Award is the joint idea of Julia Eccleshare MBE and Anne Marley MBE. Julia is the former director of the Hay Festival children’s programme. Anne was Head of Children’s, Youth & Schools Services for Hampshire Library & Information Service for many years and helped to found Authors Aloud UK, an author booking agency.
The complete list of titles on the 2026 shortlist are:
Tart by Becki Jayne Crossley, edited by Cathy Liney (Bloomsbury)
How to Roller Skate with One Leg by Ella Dove, illustrated by Jennifer Jamieson, edited by Anne Marie Ryan (Orchard Books)
Evie and Maryam’s Family Tree by Janeen Hayat, edited by Bella Pearson (Guppy Books)
Love on Sight by Asli Jensen, edited by Shalini Vallepur (Chicken House)
Gloam by Jack Mackay, edited by Katie Jennings (Rock the Boat)
The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King by Harry Trevaldwyn, edited by Emma Jones and Charlie Castelletti (First Ink)
Augmented by Kenechi Udogu, edited by Natasha Brown and Jenny Glencross (Faber)
Running alongside the Branford Boase Award, the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition encourages writing talent in under 18s.
The Branford Boase Award is delivered in partnership with the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and supported by Walker Books.
The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers’ work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal for writers. It represents over 130,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £750 million to writers.
For more information visit alcs.co.uk
The Walker Books Group is one of the world’s leading independent publishers of books and content for children. This vibrant international group includes Walker Books UK, London; Candlewick Press, Somerville, Massachusetts; and Walker Books Australia, based in Sydney and Auckland.
Renowned for its truly original publishing and outstanding quality, the Walker Books Group is home to books for readers of all ages. Award-winning authors and illustrators for the group include National Ambassador for Children’s Literature, Kate DiCamillo, M.T Anderson, Patrick Ness, and Jon Klassen, and major brands for the group are Maisy, Guess How Much I Love You, Tilly and Friends, the widely acclaimed Judy Moody and the bestselling Where’s Wally/Where’s Waldo.
The 2025 Branford Boase Award was won by Margaret McDonald and her editors Alice Swan and Ama Badu with Glasgow Boys (Bonnier).
For more information about the award, including a full list of past winners, and the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition visit www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk.
Or contact Andrea Reece on 07807893369 or andrea.reece@zen.co.uk
Andrea Reece
30 Winton Avenue, London, N11 2AT
Tel: 0208 889 1292
Mob: 07807 893369
Email: branford.boase@gmail.com
Andrea Reece
Tel: 07807 893369 | Email: branford.boase@gmail.com