Clavis Publishing has announced the U.S. debut of its Key Colors, a biennial contest for picture book creators, which has been held in other international markets since 1996. The winner of the U.S. contest, to be selected by a jury of five industry professionals, will be awarded $8,000 and a picture-book publishing contract from Clavis for the submitted work. Founded in 1979 by CEO and publisher Philippe Werck in his hometown of Hesselt, Belgium, Clavis opened offices in Amsterdam in 2001 and in New York in 2008, and currently publishes approximately 200 children’s books annually.
Submissions to the U.S. Key Colors competition will be accepted through April 30, 2020, and the winner will be announced at next year’s BookExpo. From the entries, the contest jurors will also select projects to be showcased in an exhibition to be held in New York City at a date yet to be announced. Competition regulations and guidelines for submitting entries can be found here.
On January 13, 2020, Clavis is sponsoring a Key Colors Seminar for prospective competition participants at the Society of Illustrators in Manhattan. This one-day event will include workshops on creating and illustrating picture books, a luncheon, and attendees’ portfolio reviews by Werck and fellow illustrators. Information on registering for the seminar and agenda details is available here.
