Success for Anglia Ruskin University students at Macmillan Prize for Illustration
Illustrators from the Children’s Book Illustration MA course at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) have won the top two prizes at the national Macmillan Prize for Illustration.
First prize and £1,000 went to Marguerite Davidson, while Carol Law, who graduated last summer, was runner-up and received £500.
Marguerite, who is originally California and holds degrees in studio arts and in film production from San Diego State University, won for her picture book Do You Want To Play?
She received the award from Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan, at a ceremony held at Pan Macmillan’s London offices.
Marguerite said: “I love creating stories with warmth, silliness, and cheeky animal characters.
“I work with a multitude of different media, but my current favourite is screen printing. I enjoy using a limited palette and building up layers of colour, texture, and shape.
“The initial idea for Do You Want To Play? came from a recurring image in my sketchbook of a stampede of animals all pushing and shoving their way out of the pages.
“I am fascinated by books that engage the reader in surprising ways, so I set about creating a story where the reader is trying to help the characters escape the book.
“I love to make people laugh with my stories, and that is at the heart of this project.
“My tutors encouraged me to enter the Macmillan Prize for Illustration, and I am thrilled to have won! It is such a great honour to win this competition especially with this project, which is so close to my heart.”
Examples of Marguerite’s work are available on the MA Degree Show website at cambridgemashow.com/marguerite-davidson.
The ‘Mac Prize’ was established in 1985 and is open to all non-professional illustrators based in the UK.
Meanwhile, Will Knight, who is also graduating from the MA course this summer, has been named as the winner of the Children’s Illustration category at the Batsford Prize 2025.
And, as with the Macmillan Prize, ARU enjoyed a one-two at the awards, run by independent trade publishers Batsford, with Will’s fellow student Vannysha Chang receiving the runner-up prize.
Will impressed the judges with his work The House Dragon, a story about a child left behind accidently when his family move home, and the dragon who protects him.
