Pathways Into Children’s Publishing
Pathways are two-year programmes for emerging children’s book creators from backgrounds that are under-represented in children’s publishing.
Pathways for illustrators 2023-2024
We are currently in the second year of our 2nd Pathways programme for illustrators, in partnership with 25 leading publishers and universities.
It’s designed and delivered by an impressive array of industry insiders, from published children’s authors and art directors to university lecturers and literary agents.
While it’s not accredited, like a specialised MA it provides both talent development and publishing industry experience, empowering mentees to pursue careers in this creative field.
The 2023-2024 programme is specifically for artists of colour, disabled artists and neurodivergent artists aged 21 and above (with no upper age limit) in England and Scotland.
It’s funded by Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, publisher and university affiliates.
Publisher affiliates
University affiliates
Pathways for aspiring publishers 2023-2024
We recently completed a pilot Pathways programme for aspiring publishers, which was exclusively for under-26 year-old LGBTQ+ creatives across Northern Ireland.
Following a year-long training and mentoring programme, the mentees launched their own community publishing enterprise, Faerie Press, at a conference in Dublin, Ireland, November 2023.
It was funded by National Lottery Community Fund’s Empowering Young People in Northern Ireland programme.
Interested in future Pathways programmes?
We are planning to run new Pathways programmes from autumn 2025 through to autumn 2027 – one each for aspiring writers and editors, illustrators and designers, as well as publishers. Subject to funding, we hope to launch recruitment in spring 2025.
Sign up here to be the first to find out!