As well as a writing competition, the Writing Wizardry Competition provides the opportunity for Bournemouth University students studying Communication & Media or English to compete to design our anthology’s cover as part of their Writing, Editing and Publishing unit.
This year’s winner was 21 year old BA English student (now graduate), Tinu Ogunkanmi!
Here’s a little bit about Tinu:
I’ve recently just finished my degree at Bournemouth University where I studied English. Although I love the beach at Bournemouth, I do love the city I live in (London) and the sights there.
I come from a big Nigerian blended family, and although I’m 21 and the fourth out of six children, I still consider myself to be the baby of my family.
In my spare time I love reading romantic novels, watching psychological thrillers, Korean films and TV Shows, as well as listening to R&B and classic legends like Etta James, Nat King Cole, and Blondie.”
We asked Tinu what the inspiration was behind her winning design:
I wanted to incorporate elements of the title into my cover (magic). That’s why I chose the stars and the dark blue background colour because when I think about magic I don’t know why but I think about the night sky and all the extraordinary things that take place when no one’s really watching.
I didn’t solely want to focus on this aspect, however. I thought about other things children loved reading and learning about – planets and other magical worlds – and decided that would be cool to add. I also felt that because this is an Anthology of short stories for kids, the font used for the title and a nice big image of a book with kids jumping with joy would demonstrate this really well.
Reading should be fun and a happy experience— especially for those who are still in school. I made the choices I made simply because I wanted to express how reading made me feel as a child and even now: happy.”
Here’s what our Editorial Director, Emma Scattergood, had to say about the winning design:
Tinu’s cover stood out to me immediately for its sense of pure joy – and it is the joy of writing and reading that, essentially, we are aiming to encourage with the annual Writing Wizardry Prize. If the Prize (and this book) encourages just a few more children to pick up a pen to write a poem or a story, then we have succeeded!
What I also like is Tinu’s little design details that suggest so beautifully the way in which writing and reading have the power to transport us to other worlds far beyond our own, and to open our minds to new experiences.
The best covers feature simple, eye-catching images, that express the aims of the book itself – and Tinu has achieved that perfectly here.”
We love Tinu’s design and you can now buy it on the published anthology which is available here.