Folio Society and House of Illustration announce shortlist for Book Illustration Competition

Quentin Blake has announced the six shortlisted illustrators in The Folio Society and House of Illustration's new competition to 'Get inside the Outsider'.

The winner will be awarded a £4,000 commission to illustrate a new Folio Society edition of The Outsider by Albert Camus (pictured). Each runner-up will get £500. More than 650 illustrators entered the competition, which was launched last October. The winner will be announced on 4 July.

'Our aim is to put illustration centre stage, to reveal the creative processes behind book illustration and the way in which it impacts on our experience and pleasure of reading. Illustrating Camus's The Outsider – a key novel of postwar existentialism - presented a fascinating challenge to the many illustrators who entered. The standard was exceptionally high and we, the judges, were especially pleased to see a wealth of entries from young people and students who we hope 'The Book Illustration Award' will inspire in the years to come. We want to inspire young people to create illustrations for the world of tomorrow,' said Quentin Blake, the chair of the judges.

The six finalists are: Chungwoon Choi, Georgina Hounsome, Anne-Marie Jones, Joseph Melhuish, Matthew Richardson and Alenka Sottler.

Writing Magazine particularly liked the works by the last two illustrators on the list, so here are links to their websites:

Matthew Richardson: http://matthewxrichardson.com/
Alenka Sottler: http://www.sottler.si

Competiton website: http://competitions.houseofillustration.org.uk/folio2010/