Most recently, Biesemeier worked as an independent consultant for various international companies in the media, publishing and learning technology sectors, focusing particularly on strategic business development, process design and artificial intelligence.
It is every employer’s responsibility to play their part in reducing and removing gender inequalities from the workplace, and research shows this isn’t just the right thing to do, it also makes business sense.”
CNPIEC also pointed to more than 1,000 cultural events, including mini-exhibitions, lectures, seminars, salons, author appearances, and book launches around Beijing, attracted nearly 300,000 visitors over the five-day period; 15 new countries and regions, including Azerbaijan, Czechia, Nigeria, Norway, Slovakia and Qatar, who participated this year compared to last year; while Japan, Malaysia, the UK and Italy expanded their presence.
Winner of the Children’s Fiction category is Safiyyah’s War (Andersen Press) by Hiba Noor Khan, described as an extraordinary novel set in occupied Paris which finds a girl engaged in dangerous resistance work after her father is arrested by the Nazis.
"The prospect of creating a team with the supremely talented [designer] Holly [Battle], and creatively collaborating with Felice and her colleagues, is truly exciting to me", said Morrison.
I’m looking forward to our judging discussions – there’s so much to be said about each of these remarkable novels, and I feel that this year will be particularly difficult choosing a winner because we couldn’t cut the longlist to our normal twelve, so passionate were the team about each book."
“I feel completely honoured that it is librarians who have deemed The Boy Lost in the Maze as worthy of a Carnegie medal and will forever be grateful to the team at Otter-Barry Books, illustrator Kate Milner and my agent Caroline Sheldon for helping me bring this story to bookshelves and into the hands of readers.”
As part of its submission, the publisher provided evidence of its commitment to removing gender inequalities in the workplace, which include flexible working, family-friendly policies, an inclusive culture and career progression.
She is the author of five books: Brick Lane, Alentejo Blue, In the Kitchen, Untold Story and Love Marriage, is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 2003 was named as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists.
"There’s an enormous appetite for SFF titles among the CB team and we’re actively looking for new, exciting writers in this area so we couldn’t be happier that CBC will be applying their unique, thoughtful and supportive approach to this new course," said Steph Thwaites, head of the book department at Curtis Brown.
Anika Hussain’s This Is How You Fall in Love, published by Hot Key Books, is a charming fake dating rom-com in which Zara pretends to be in a relationship with her best friend Adnan to conceal the identity of his secret girlfriend.
Making up the shortlist for the prize – now in its 20th year – are Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent (Sandycove; Penguin Ireland), In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan (Simon & Schuster UK) and Killing Jericho by William Hussey (Zaffre, Bonnier).
