Verna Wilkins, FOUNDER AND MD OF TAMARIND BOOKS will be giving this year's Patrick Hardy lecture.
Tamarind Books was founded by Verna Wilkins in 1987. Verna's mission is to redress the balance in publishing by giving a high positive profile to children from ethnic minorities and those with disabilities. The company has won many awards for its contribution to children's literature. Most recently Tamarind won the Decibel Award for Cultural Diversity at the British Book Industry Awards 2008. Tamarind Books is now an imprint of Random House.
PATRICK HARDY (1936-1987) joined Constable Young Books as Grace Hogarth's assistant, where he succeeded Grace as Editor. Constable Young Books then became Longman Young Books and from there Patrick transferred, with his list, to Penguin, where he founded Kestrel Books. Between 1982 and 1985 he ran his own company, maintaining the high standards he had always set himself.
November 1989 saw the inaugural Patrick Hardy Lecture, given in the form of a dialogue between Jill Paton Walsh and John Rowe Townsend. These series of lectures have continued, occurring annually, with honoured speakers from the world of children's books such as Jacqueline Wilson, Anthony Horowitz and Quentin Blake.
This year's lecture is held at Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2AB on Wednesday 29th October, 2008.
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