V&A announces the shortlist for the 2022 Illustration Awards

Now in its 50th year, the V&A has established itself as a leading accolade in illustration. This year's awards cover work published in 2020 and 2021, with a record number of over 1,440 entries competing for prize money of up to £8,000.

Split into four categories, the shortlists include work submitted for book covers, book illustration, illustrated journalism, and student illustrator of the year. Winners from each category will be awarded £3,000, while the student runner-up will receive £2,000. The overall winner of the V&A Illustration Awards 2022 will also be awarded the Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year Prize, an additional £5,000 plus entry of their work into the V&A.

And for the hopeful artists wondering if their work will come out on top, there isn't long to wait. The 2022 winners will be selected by a judging panel of illustrators Dapo Adeola, Ann Kiernan, Axel Scheffler and Posy Simmonds, chaired by V&A Director Tristram Hunt. Award winners and the student winner, runner up and highly commended entries will feature in a display of digital prints in the V&A South Kensington galleries opening to the public on 20 July.

Readers of Creative Boom will likely recognise some of the names on the shortlists with Neil Packer's book One Of A Kind and Chenyue Yuan's Pearl's Daughters both having appeared on the site before. Enjoy browsing through the complete list of shortlisted artists below, and good luck to everyone in the running for a prize.

Book Cover Award Shortlist

• Owen Davey: Curious About Crocodiles by Owen Davey. Published by Flying Eye, 2021
• Sally Dunne: Crooked House by Agatha Christie. Published by Folio Society, 2021
• Daniel Dzonu-Clarke: The Dancing Face by Mike Phillips. Published by Penguin, 2021
• Lela Harris: The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Published by Folio Society, 2021
• Kerry Hyndman: The Rich House by Stella Gibbons. Published by Penguin, 2021
• Joe McLaren: The Way Under Our Feet by Graham B. Usher. Published by SPCK, 2020

Book Illustration Award Shortlist

• Gerard DuBois: The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Published by Folio Society, 2021
• Luisa Jung: Brain Fables: The Hidden History of Neurodegenerative Diseases and a Blueprint to -Conquer Them by Alberto Espay and Benjamin Stecher. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020
• Kate Leiper: The Queen of the Birds by Karine Polwart. Published by Folio Birlinn Books, 2021
• Georgie McAusland: Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti. Published by Batsford Books, 2021
• Laura Merz: 1,001 Creatures by Aino Järvinen. Published by Restless Books, 2020
• Chris Ofili: Greek Myths by Charlotte Higgins. Published by Jonathan Cape, 2021
• Neil Packer: One of a Kind by Neil Packer. Published by Walker Studio, 2020
• Hannah Peck: Kate on the Case by Hannah Peck. Published by Piccadilly Press, 2021
• Jenny Robins: Biscuits (Assorted) by Jenny Robins. Published by Myriad Editions, 2020
• Natsko Seki: Broadway Market: A Celebration of Multicultural Independent Shops in London. Published by Design for Today, 2020

Illustrated Journalism Award Shortlist

• James Albon: ‘Tiktok’ by La ZEP, in Libération, 2021
• Ben Jones: 'Behind the Times', in History Today Magazine, 2020
• Jennifer N.R. Smith: 'The Gender Pain Gap' by Elinor Cleghorn, in BBC History Magazine, 2021
• Mark Smith: 'She Has A Name' by Louise Farr, in Alta Journal, 2021
• Alexis Tsegba: 'The price of having black hair in a white world' by Tamara Gilkes Borr, in The Economist, 2021

Student Illustrator of the Year 2022 Shortlist

• Jessica Ciccolone, Five Puffins in Antartica. Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge School of Art)
• Sarah Edge, My cancer scars map the pain of animals held in research labs. Falmouth University Klara Bianka Gryglicka, My Summer | Visual Diary. Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge School of Art)
• Amy Hunter, Sea Fever. Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge School of Art)
• Jiatong Liu, Blue Things. Kingston University
• Leo Loviero, 'waiting'. University for the Creative Arts (Farnham)
• Sara Parodi, How Many Times? Falmouth University
• Billy Partridge, Jabberwocky. Leeds Arts University
• Kate Rolfe, Navigating Dyslexia. Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge School of Art)
• Amy Sutton, The Chip Eaters of Falmouth. Falmouth University
• Yehyeon Yu, My Answer Sheet. Kingston University
• Chenyue Yuan, Pearl's Daughters. Royal College of Art

Want to keep up to date with the winners of the V&A Illustration Awards 2022? Bookmark the awards page and be sure to check back.