An award-winning author who advises students at the University of Worcester on their writing has been nominated for one of the most prestigious awards in children’s literature.
Liz Hyder, one of the University’s Royal Literary Fund Writers in Residence, is in the running for the Carnegie Medal for her novel The Twelve. The Carnegie Medals are the UK’s longest running children’s book awards.
The Twelve, which is Liz’s fourth novel, already won the 2024 Nero Book Award for Children’s Fiction and the Tir na n-Og Award for Best English language book 2025.
The story mixes fantasy and folklore, centring on sisters Kit and Libby who decide to test out a prophecy on the Winter Solstice. Kit discovers the world has reshaped itself into a reality where her sister never existed.
“The lovely thing about the Carnegies is that they are nominated and voted for by librarians, who every writer would say are the real unsung heroes,” said Liz. “It feels like such an honour because few people know more about books and storytelling than librarians.”
“There are so many books published every year,” she added. “I think we’re in a golden age for children’s literature, so to be nominated now is particularly special.”
Liz, from Ludlow, Shropshire, creates stories for both young readers and adults. Her debut novel Bearmouth (2019) won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for Older Readers and was named The Times Children’s Book of the Year, though she notes it followed six unpublished manuscripts.
As one of the University’s Writers in Residence for this academic year, Liz offers one-to-one sessions, supporting students with their academic writing and helping develop their writing skills. This free service is provided by the Royal Literary Fund, which sponsors writers to work in universities across the UK.
“Working with students on all sorts of topics gets my brain firing,” said Liz. “It’s absolutely fascinating because there are so many different courses here, so I just learn so much. They are working on essays, but it’s all still storytelling, so the principles remain the same.”
Judges for the Carnegies will decide the longlist in February, the shortlist in March and the winner in June.
Liz’s advice to budding writers is simple. “Finish it,” she said. “If you don’t finish it, you can’t do anything, that’s the first step. If you don’t want to finish it, work out why and fix it or move on. I would also say that if you’re struggling to find the time to write, just give yourself permission – only you can carve out the time to do it!”
She adds: “The more you write the better you get. I’m a much better writer now than I was for those first six books that will never see the light of day, so it’s not wasted. And persistence is vital, it’s a craft and it does take time to learn for almost everyone – including me!”
Read more about the University of Worcester’s Writers in Residence on the University’s website.