Albert Ullin Award | Winners

Judith Rossell won the 2024 Albert Ullin Award.

The biennial Albert Ullin Award, administered by the CBCA Victoria Branch, is in recognition of a body of work by an author or illustrator of children’s books who has made a significant and ongoing contribution to children’s literature in Australia.

This is a $10,000 biennial award created with a bequest from the late Albert Ullin, co-founder of The Little Bookroom in Melbourne. Ullin encouraged and supported Australian authors and illustrators across all genres of children’s literature.

The 2024 award recognises Melbourne author and illustrator Judith Rossell, who has been writing and illustrating children’s books for over 20 years, including renowned works such as the gothic Stella Montgomery series (Withering-By-Sea, Wormwood Mire and Wakestone Hall), and picture books such as Pink and Bogtrotter, written by Margaret Wild, and You Are A Star by Michael Parker. Rossell is also releasing her highly anticipated new middle-grade adventure fantasy novel, The Midwatch, with Hardie Grant this month.

The panel state:

‘It is Rossell’s profound love for creating stories through the artful combination of pictures and words, as well as her dedication to sharing her wealth of knowledge beyond the page, that makes her a worthy recipient of the Albert Ullin Award 2024.’

The Albert Ullin Award was announced and presented to Rossell at our ‘Celebration For Creators’ evening on Thursday 17 October 2024 at the Bargoonga Nganjin Fitzroy North Library. Previous winners include inaugural recipient Andrew McLean (illustrator) in 2020, and Jane Tanner (author and illustrator) in 2022.

About Albert Ullin

Born Frankfurt, Germany in 1930, Died in Melbourne, September 2018, aged 88.

Moved to Australia in 1939 before the outbreak of World War II and became a bookseller at Robertson & Mullens, where he developed an interest in children’s books.

Aged 30, he opened The Little Bookroom, the first Australian bookstore dedicated to children’s books and named after Eleanor Farjeon’s book of modern fairy tales.

Whilst working at the bookstore, Albert built one of Australia’s largest collections of children’s picture book art, which he donated to the National Gallery of Victoria in 2015.

Awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1997 in for ‘service to the promotion of children’s literature in Australia and overseas’;
Awarded the Dromkeen Medal in 1986 for ‘outstanding achievement in the creation of Australian children’s and young adult literature’;
Presented with a lifetime achievement award in 2009, from the Australian Booksellers Association;
Received CBCA VIC Branch’s Leila St John Award in 2010, for services to children’s literature in Victoria.

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