Patrick Ness wins the 2011 CILIP Carnegie Medal for "Monsters of Men"

The 2011 CILIP Carnegie Medal 2011 has been awarded to Patrick Ness for his novel, Monsters of Men, the third and final instalment in Ness's "Chaos Walking" trilogy which charts the epic power struggles between the inhabitants of a world where all thoughts are audible; and the relationship which develops between Todd and Viola, his young main characters.

Uniquely, the two other books in his trilogy, The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer, were each shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Ferelith Hordon, chair of the 2011 judging panel commented: "Monsters of Men is an extraordinary achievement.  Ness creates a complex other world, giving great scope to consider big questions about life, love and how we communicate, as well as the horrors of war, and the good and evil that mankind is capable of. It's an enthralling read that is well nigh impossible to put down."

Patrick Ness is an American who has lived in the UK since 1999.  The Knife of Never Letting Go was his first novel for young people and was written while he was teaching creative writing at Kellogg College, University of Oxford.  It won both the Guardian Award and the Booktrust Teenage Book Prize; The Ask and the Answer won the Costa Book Award.

The CILIP Carnegie Medal is the UK's oldest and most prestigious prize for children's writing. Patrick Ness joins a list of distinguished past winners that includes Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, Anne Fine, Terry Pratchett, Noel Streatfeild, CS Lewis and Arthur Ransome.  There is no cash prize.  Librarians across the country nominate titles to be considered for a shortlist of up to eight, from which the winner is then chosen.

The winners were announced at a ceremony at BAFTA, London on Thursday 23 June.

http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/2011awards/