BATSFORD PRIZE

Meet the judges

The Batsford Prize is judged by industry professionals with decades of experience within the creative industries between them. The 2025 judges are:

Mike Tonkin qualified as an architect in 1989 and his interest in nature led to his qualification as a landscape architect in 2014. He completed his PhD in the Engineering Department at the University of Bath and is currently a visiting professor at the Manchester School of Architecture and Sheffield University.

Eoghan O’Brien is Batsford’s Art Director. He has nearly 20 years of experience in graphic design, the publishing industry and commissioning illustrators and photographers.

Polly Powell is owner of Batsford Books, the organisers of the Batsford prizes. She is the daughter of Geoffry Powell of Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, architects of the Barbican.

Vaughan Grylls is a photographer, author and artist. His photography has been shown in the Photographers’ Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Arnolfini. From 1996 to 2005 he was Chief Executive of the Kent Institute of Art and Design. In 2005 he founded the University for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham and Rochester. vaughangrylls.com

Anne Kelly is an award-winning artist, author and tutor. Her multi-layered and densely stitched textiles have been described as ‘small worlds’. Trained in Canada and at Goldsmiths College in London, she creates wall hangings and objects using a mixture of mixed media collage and hand and machine embroidery. Her inspirations are taken from travel, memory, nature and especially folk art. Anne tutors and teaches fine art and textiles to a variety of groups in the UK and abroad. and is a member of the Embroiderers Guild UK, the Crafts Council Directory and the Society for Embroidered Work.  She also exhibits and curates group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Her six books for Batsford are widely collected and studied by students of all ages around the world.

Neil Dunnicliffe is a literary agent. He was a publisher of children’s books for over 20 years, collaborating with many leading artists and writers at BBC, Penguin Random House and HarperCollins. In 2022, Neil set up Spring Literary, an agency representing children’s authors and illustrators. springliterary.com