Double Mac success for Anglia Ruskin illustrators
Marguerite and Carol receive the top two honours at national Macmillan Prize
Marguerite Davidson, left, pictured with Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan and one of the award judges
Illustrators from the Children’s Book Illustration MA course at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) have won the top two prizes at the national Macmillan Prize for Illustration.
First prize and a cheque for £1,000 went to Marguerite Davidson, while Carol Law, who graduated from the ARU course last summer, received the runner-up award and a prize of £500.
Known as the “Mac Prize”, the award was established in 1985 and is open to all non-professional illustrators based in the UK. This year the prestigious competition, which is celebrating its 40th birthday, received almost 400 entries.
Marguerite, who is originally California and holds degrees in Studio Arts and in Film Production from San Diego State University, won for her picture book Do You Want To Play? She received the award from Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan, at a ceremony held at Pan Macmillan’s London offices and will graduate from ARU’s Children’s Book Illustration MA course next month.
“I love creating stories with warmth, silliness, and cheeky animal characters. I work with a multitude of different media, but my current favourite is screen printing. I enjoy using a limited palette and building up layers of colour, texture, and shape.
“The initial idea for Do You Want To Play? came from a recurring image in my sketchbook of a stampede of animals all pushing and shoving their way out of the pages. I am fascinated by books that engage the reader in surprising ways, so I set about creating a story where the reader is trying to help the characters escape the book.
“I love to make people laugh with my stories, and that is at the heart of this project. My tutors encouraged me to enter the Macmillan Prize for Illustration, and I am thrilled to have won! It is such a great honour to win this competition especially with this project, which is so close to my heart.”
Marguerite Davidson
“Marguerite’s winning entry Do You Want To Play? caught the judges’ attention immediately with its vibrant colour and flowing illustration style. Add to that a concept that invites the reader to interact with the book itself made this entry irresistible fun.
“Making a book entertaining, full of life and interactive in a physical way is ambitious, but Marguerite brought all of these aspects together in an elegant, accessible and visually stunning form. The judges all felt that this book would be a great book for adults and children to read and enjoy together, making it a joyful experience for all.”
Chris Inns, Art Director at Macmillan Children’s Books and Chair of Judges
“This year was another strong year for the Mac Prize with work submitted by a fabulous range of talented illustrators. As a judging panel, we enjoyed seeing the variety of styles and the many dazzling imaginations at play on the page.”
Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan and judge
“As the Mac Prize celebrates 40 years, we have been delighted to see such a strong mix of voices and range of styles and themes coming through in the entries. We are always looking for picture books that speak to a child’s experience of their world and the Prize brings fantastic new talent to the surface that we are proud to publish on our Macmillan and Two Hoots lists.”
Alison Ruane, MD of Macmillan Children’s Books
“The Macmillan Prize is always such a special event. Chris Inns goes round the room telling the winners why their work was chosen, which judges championed particular projects and sometimes even giving a piece of advice for the future.
“It’s such a thrill for our students and also for us, as tutors, to see them honoured. We couldn’t be more pleased to see Marguerite and Carol recognised, and to have 14 of the 20 highly commended projects also coming from students and graduates of our course, that was the icing on the cake!”
Shelley Jackson, Associate Professor and Course Director for the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at ARUExamples of Marguerite’s work are available on the MA Degree Show website here https://www.cambridgemashow.com/marguerite-davidson
Meanwhile, Will Knight, who is also graduating from the MA course this summer, has been named as the winner of the Children’s Illustration category at the Batsford Prize 2025. And as with the Macmillan Prize, ARU enjoyed a one-two at the awards, run by independent trade publishers Batsford, with Will’s fellow student Vannysha Chang receiving the runner-up prize.
Will impressed the judges with his work The House Dragon, a story about a child left behind accidently when his family move home, and the dragon who protects him.
“We're delighted to award the children's illustration prize to Will Knight for The House Dragon. This submission impressed all the judges with its mix of media – from a video showing a physical 3D model of the dragon, through working sketches and the final finished art. The illustrations are very accomplished, visually stunning and show an inventive range of perspectives – and it's a funny story too.”
Founder of Spring Literary and award judge Neil Dunnicliffe