We are pleased to welcome Joe Wilson to the blog as part of his blog tour for his debut novel, The Island that Didn't Exist a compelling  adventure story with a conservation theme.  Here Joe discusses finding a nest, the space and time, in which to write.  

I’ve just been watching Roald Dahl in his little hut. Have you seen it? You might even have visited it. It was 1982 when I joined him there, this morning, on YouTube. In the BBC film Roald Dahl explains his routine and demonstrates his writing environment. It is eccentric, idiosyncratic and utterly charming, of course it is. In short, it runs like this:

Dahl walks to his hut, which is located at the end of a short garden path. He sits in a specially configured armchair and pulls the rug up over his knees (in winter he, tells us, he sits inside a full sleeping bag). Having lowered a special writing tray to rest on the arms of the chair he then sharpens six pencils with an electronic device. There are always six, he stresses, and they must all be sharp before he proceeds. He then pours something from a flask and he’s ready to write. He’s created, as he puts it, his nest.

I think to myself, ‘how wonderful’ immediately followed by, ‘how utterly unattainable’. I would love an author’s nest. In reality I often struggle to find a perch.

I’m in awe of anyone who decides to dispense with their everyday life completely and immerse themselves solely in writing their first novel. I, in contrast, tried to fit mine in around everything else. In that way, I suspect I’m like a lot of other new authors.

The time and space I found to write The Island That Didn’t Exist was normally the train; commuter with computer. That was me. It may be you, too. So, here this the benefit of my experience; the trials and travails of writing on the rails.

• Find a seat. Sitting down may seem like the fundamental right of the train traveller but on my line, like many others, it was more of a luxury. The only guarantee of getting a seat was to take a slow service. This involved arriving at the station earlier than necessary to allow for the extra stops the train would take on its route to London. Sometimes there was no choice, it had to be the quickest and so (market forces demanded) the most crowded. There is something rather humiliating about crouching cross legged on the floor with your nose sniffing the bin having bought an expensive ticket for the privilege. In these moments, I must confess, the creative headspace to write was difficult to locate. There is, of course, no excuse. But I am suggesting this comes close.
• Don’t miss your stop. The dream scenario of train writing is when the pattern of your mind blends with the rhythm of rails. You become one with the movement of the train. There is a kind of creative harmony the Buddhists probably have a name for. You are only vaguely aware, in fact, that the train has actually come to a halt. Panic hits you when you recognise the platform as belonging to your station. From that point there are approximately 15 seconds to save your work, stuff the laptop in the bag, grab whatever additional possessions you’ve strewn near you, climb apologetically over the adjacent passenger and dash through the doors. In this heightened state I have lost two scarves and one coat but, thankfully, I never lost what I’d just been writing.
• Rail Replacement Service. The three dreaded words. A late shift in the office always carried with it the potential that engineering works would render the lines out of service. A train would transport you beyond the outer fringes of the capital but no further. What came next was a wait in a windswept car park, standing silently with a few other helpless souls. Eventually we would all mournfully parade on to a coach as the clocks (on our phones) ticked past midnight. I’ve never liked reading on coaches and writing is even harder. But I now wonder if the cramped darkness and overpowering sense of nausea contributed to the script. The scene where Rixon Webster is trapped in a cave, partially written on a rail replacement service, is the only part of the book which survived unscathed through the whole redrafting process.

The purpose of this blog is not to complain, far from it. The whole point is that writing escapist adventure fiction was my own way of escaping the commuting routine. If I had to be there in body I didn’t have to be there in mind. That, I think, leads to the broader purpose of a book.

When you’ve got a good one you carry it with you like a treasure. It is somewhere to travel to, to be thrilled by and to feel safe inside. In fact, long after the writers have ceased their labour the book itself becomes a kind of portable nest.       

We are delighted to welcome Rashmi Sirdeshpande to the blog.  Rashmi's first book How to Be Extraordinary was published in 2019 and featured the real-life stories of fifteen inspiring individuals.  Rashmi's new picture book, Never Show a T-Rex a Book! publishes this August, has bold and brilliant illustrations by Diane Ewen and is a witty, wise and warm story about books, libraries, reading and of course - dinosaurs!  

Never Show a T-Rex a Book may be a super silly adventure about books and the power of the imagination but at its heart it’s also a love letter to libraries. Even my dedication is to librarians. Because libraries made me. My parents’ story is a classic immigrant story. They came to this country with next to nothing. They didn’t have much but they believed in books and they believed in learning. So naturally they believed in libraries. It’s no wonder then that libraries form part of some of my strongest childhood memories.

I remember walking into libraries and being WOWed by the number of books. I felt that as a child and again and again as an adult at university, at business school, and in public libraries and bookshops. I could spend a lifetime reading and it wouldn’t be enough to read all the things I want to read. So I gave them to T-Rex. I gave her my wonder and my endless hunger and I gave her ALL the books. When she learns how to read, there’s no stopping her. Because literacy is so foundational. Unlock that and she suddenly has access to whole worlds of fact and fiction. And she loves it all, hoovering up everything from comics and classics and poetry to books on STEM, art, meditation, and thinking BIG. 

Diane Ewen’s joyful artwork brings so much fun to this journey of discovering books and the chaos that ensues when T-Rex puts her new-found skills to use as Prime Minister. One of her first acts as the big cheese is of course to make sure there are libraries EVERYWHERE. You can tell she’d be 100% behind the campaign to save libraries today and she’d obviously be very pro school libraries. I don’t know where I’d be without libraries. My parents couldn’t have afforded to buy all the books I read growing up. And it’s at my local libraries that I discovered (as T-Rex does) the amazing range of books out there - fiction and non-fiction. That discovery made me a writer and that too, one who wants to write about EVERYTHING!

There was a little something missing in that range though. T-Rex is lucky. She’s very well represented in children’s books (or her male non-glasses-wearing counterparts are anyway!). But her little human friends sadly aren’t. Diane and I didn’t see ourselves much in books growing up so making this book really inclusive meant a lot to us. Especially because it’s a funny book and a madcap dinosaur adventure - because ALL children should have a chance to have those too. And ALL children should see the children around them enjoying these kinds of adventures and not just popping up in the heavy, issues-based books or the niche day-in-the-life-of books. Things are changing, thankfully, and we wanted to be a part of that change. After all, this book started its life as my submission to Penguin Random House’s WriteNow programme for underrepresented writers.

If books are a gateway into exploring new worlds and falling in love with reading and learning, they need to be accessible to everyone. This is where libraries are such a gift. Librarians too - finding just the right books to spark a child’s imagination. Books where they can see themselves and the people around them within those pages. Because when they find those books, that moment is the beginning of a beautiful, life-long adventure and a whole world of possibility.

Thank you to Rashmi for penning this thoughtful and heartfelt love-letter to libraries.

Can you tell us a little about your career?

I wrote and illustrated my first story when I was 19 years old. I showed it to some publishers but nothing happened. About the same time I started to work as a commercial illustrator for magazines and advertising.

Since I was a child I always wanted to go abroad and see the world outside my country.  So when I turned 23 I quit my job and decided to leave Japan for UK with the money I save in the last couple of years.  I really liked London and spent so much time walking about to get to know the different areas.  At the same time I was in search of what I wanted to do with my life.

One day while getting bored lying in my bed I came up with an idea for a story. I wrote it down and drew some illustrations. I made photocopies of it and sent them to ten publishers.  Most of them told me that they were interested and invited me to their offices. Two of them were quite keen and tried to publish my story but in the end it didn’t work out. Then I met Klaus Flugge of Andersen Press. He wasn’t too impressed by my story but liked my drawing and gave me the text of Angry Arthur written by Hiawyn Oram.  It became my first book to be published in 1982 and everything started from there.

I am most grateful to Klaus who has published so many books of mine since and Hiawyn who wrote such brilliant stories for me in my early years.

Where do you work?

I had a good size studio for my book works but because sometimes I do other things like sculptures in wood, I needed to have a bigger space. I have lots of carpentry tools and timbers and my studio got too cramp. Recently a flat downstairs became available so I rented it for the work I do that isn't on books.

The photo is the table where I work. There’s a scroll of paper spread over it. I buy a big roll of water colour paper and use it as it is. There’s a roll holder that I made on the right end of the table.  When I finish a drawing I it out and pull the paper onto the left and start a new one.

The other photo shows my kamishibai theatres and other objects I made.

Can you talk us through your approach to creating picture books?

It may start with doodles in my sketch book. An interesting phrase or sentence in a conversation I overhear in a café might become a starting point. Something quite ordinary can be an inspiration. If you see something common like a pencil as if you see it in the first time in your life, it suddenly looks so interesting that you would like to write a story about it ( as a matter of fact I have a pencil story that I’m writing at the moment. It’s nearly there but need few more ingredients to make it work).

You have worked on signage for sites like Eureka in Halifax and Seven Stories in Newcastle.  Do you think we make enough of illustration?

Many signages we see in streets or towns are very useful but sometimes if they had more characters and humours, not an obviously funny houmour but something subtle and witty like Ampelmannchen, the traffic light figures used in East Germany, our daily life becomes a little nicer.

You've worked with some incredible authors and poets, what are the differences between illustrating other people's work and your own?

I am very lucky that I started my career illustrating Hiawyn Oram’s text.  Angry Arthur is one of the greatest picture book texts. I learnt so much from illustrating Hiawyn’s writings.

I illustrated Roger McGough’s Sky in the Pie and it was a very interesting experience because I hardly knew anything about English poetry before then. Again, it was fortunate for me that my first poetry teacher was such a distinguished poet. The book taught me the joy of reading poetry and illustrating them.

John Agard and I come from very different background but we get along so well artistically as well as friends.

I love illustrating his books and at the moment am working on his picture book text.

Comic Adventures of Boots was, as the name suggests, told in comic strip form - as well as being comedic! - what differences are there working in this form, is it something you'd consider returning to?

Putting it simply, a picture book is a little like visual poetry while comics is theatre; you have to tell a story in dialogue like a play or film script.

It’s a very different approach from a picture book. Recently I have done some comics for literary magazines for adult readers. I’m beginning to understand how to write and illustrate comics and I like it even more. I’d love to do another comic book for children some day.

Which illustrators and what style of art do you admire?

The 1960’s graphic design and illustration from Japan, US and Europe were huge influence for me. Also, I have seen all kinds of paintings and sculptures from all over the world. There are so many artists I admire but if I chose one or two. . .

Paul Klee and Enku, Japanese Buddhist sculptor in 17^th centry.

The idea of expression and emotions run through many of your books and feature heavily in The Smile Shop, please can you introduce us to the book?

I have been to Mexico and other Latin American countries many times. I tried to learn Spanish at one point. A word for smile is ‘sonrisa’ in Spanish and I made up a word ‘sonrisaria’ the shop that sells smile. I liked the idea and made a rough sketch in very simple Spanish with pencil drawings about 20 pages. I thought of publishing it in Mexico because ‘sonrisaria’ sounded better than ‘smile shop’ to me. But I’m so much familiar with English publishing I showed my translation from Spanish to English to Scallywag Press. Sarah Pakenham, the publisher and Janice Thomson, the editor liked it, so I started to work on it in English.

While I was working on the book Brexit happened and that made me so sad. I left UK in 2009 for good after living there for 30 years, so it’s none of my business perhaps but I felt as if the country that I lived and had loved had become a different place. The Smile Shop is a tribute to London that had been a part of my life for so long. After finishing the book I realized both ‘Millie’s Marvellous Hat’ and ‘The Smile Shop’ are stories about someone getting something nice because they didn’t have money.

You've run workshops around Kamishibai storytelling, can you tell us a bit about this?

I’ve done workshops in Japan, UK, Latin America, Korea, India, South East Asia, Dubai and South Africa.

I enjoy meeting children. One thing I learnt having met so many children in different countries is that they are not different. Their sense of joy and fun are same. They speak different languages and their parents’ politics might be poles apart but people are same when they smile and laugh.

To see Satoshi performing a Kamishibai version of Hat Tricks (highly recommended!), please click here 

What are the differences between how children's book illustration is created and considered in Japan and in England?

There may be some differences between the cultures but I always try to find something in common.

Are you able to tell us what is next for you?

Apart from a book with John Agard, I have quite few ideas for the next book but haven’t decided to pick which one to start working on it. I’m busy preparing a show of paintings and sculptures in a gallery in Kobe in October at the moment.

A big thank you to Satoshi Kitamura for his time and insights and to Scallywag Press for the opportunity.

The Youth Libraries Group are delighted to be part of Zanib Mian's blog tour to celebrate the publication of Planet Omar: Incredible Rescue Mission, the third book in the award-winning series. We were pleased to have the opportunity to chat with Zanib about reading, writing and all things Planet Omar!

 What books did you enjoy reading as a child?

I enjoyed all of Dr Seuss’ books as well as Roald Dahl. One of my most favourite books was Chicken Licken, again perhaps because of the rhymes. I remember not quite wanting to move on from picture books, and always choosing them in favour of chapter books, secretly feeling disappointed in myself that I wasn’t reading longer books, like my friends. I was just drawn to them! But I did move on when I was ready. When I had my own children, I rediscovered why I find a good picture book so magical and now that my children have outgrown them, I still buy lots to read to my nieces!

When did you realise you wanted to be a writer?

This is an interesting question, because I fell head over heels with writing at primary school. I especially loved writing rhyming poems (all that Dr Seuss!), but I didn’t realise I could be a writer until I had my own children. I immersed them in books since they were 6 months old, but I found that books were still not representative of all the people in their world, so I decided to write!

Can you tell us a little about Sweet Apple – how and why you set this up- what challenges and high points were there?

When I began writing stories for my own child, which included people like him and his family, and watched him delight in them, I thought I should perhaps share them with others who couldn’t find inclusive books. Though I wanted to, it wasn’t until 2009 that I set about publishing my first book, Adam and the Tummy Monsters under Sweet Apple, with the highly ambitious vision to publish children’s books to represent people from all backgrounds, not just my own. I felt that larger publishers simply weren’t doing it at the time.

Coming from a Science background, with no knowledge of publishing and no contacts in the publishing industry, I threw myself into the deep-end and faced many challenges – mostly to do with getting my books on the shelves of stores, or marketing them well enough for people to know they were out there! The only thing that kept me going through those difficult times was when something wonderfully positive happened that reassured me that the work was good enough! One such example was Cbeebies Bedtime Stories featuring Oddsockosaurus and signing contracts for a further two Sweet Apple books!

The Muslims won the Little Rebels award – what do you think is special about the award and what did it mean to win it?

Ah, the Little Rebels Award is very close to my heart. It is the award that ‘made’ me. I had published Planet Omar under Sweet Apple initially, but was facing the usual problems of getting the book noticed. This award did just that for me. It recognises children’s books on social justice, books which are tackling important issues – radical fiction! Writers of these books have spoken from the heart about issues dear to them, and it’s just wonderful for there to be an award that puts these works in the spotlight.

 Can you tell us a little about how the deal with Hachette came about?

This was all linked to winning the Little Rebels Award, after which larger publishers discovered the book, which was first published as The Muslims and later rebranded as Planet Omar. After the award, there was much interest in the book, both at home and internationally. I signed my wonderful agent, Jessica Craig, who handled everything perfectly. The three-book deal with Hachette was a dream come true, something I had always wanted, but never thought I would achieve. I absolutely love working with my editor, Kate Agar, and the rest of the team. Each and every person involved with publishing Planet Omar does it straight from the heart, with an enthusiasm and passion that is just heart-warming beyond words.

 Were there different expectations for the series when working with Hachette?

To be honest, I was wary of them wishing to heavily edit the story, and perhaps remove a lot of the religious references which I included in the book to help readers understand Islamic practices better, and therefore invoke empathy and build bridges. However, they wanted to do no such thing, Omar and his family are exactly as I always intended them to be. The book was completely rebranded with a new title and brand new illustrations, by a professional this time! I love the new series title Planet Omar, and the zingy eye-catching covers!

What can readers expect in book three, Planet Omar: Incredible Rescue Mission?

I’m having a lot of fun writing Omar’s adventures! In Incredible Rescue Mission, Omar’s teacher Mrs Hutchinson goes missing and is unfortunately replaced with a teacher of every kid’s nightmares. So Omar, Daniel and Charlie launch a rescue mission, looking for clues and going out on their bikes to uncover the mystery. Of course, Omar gets carried away with his imagination, concluding that their teacher had swallowed an alien and has therefore been abducted by them! The mystery is finally solved during Omar’s first ever trip to Pakistan, where he is attending a cousin’s wedding and what they find is very surprising!

 Humour does not always get the recognition it deserves, what are the challenges of writing a comedy series and do we need to take humour more seriously?!

I am someone who loves to laugh and loves to make people laugh. I also adore people who can make me laugh! So I guess giggles are a big part of my life, and it therefore comes naturally to me to write a comedy series. I also believe that laughter is the best remedy, so yes, we should take it more seriously, especially during these times when children’s mental and emotional health should not be overlooked.

Do you have any direct contact with the illustrator Nasaya Mafaridik? 

I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting Nasaya, though we have been in touch via social media. I think the book wouldn’t be what it is without the illustrations – they are extremely important to the reader’s experience. I would love for Nasaya to join me on the next book tour so our readers can get the complete Planet Omar creators experience and I just can’t wait to meet her in person!

What is next for you?

Oh, I am sure you will be reading a fourth Planet Omar book, wink, wink! I’d also love to write a female character in another middle-grade book. So watch this space to see if that transpires!

A massive thank you to Zanib for being involved with the interview and for Hachette for their support in setting this up.

We are delighted to welcome Fen Coles and Catherine Barter, organisers of the Little Rebels Children’s Book Award.  The Little Rebels was inaugurated in 2012 and on 15 July the 2020 shortlist will be announced.  The National Shelf Service will be releasing videos with the shortlisted authors and illustrators from 11am on an hourly basis.

Can you tell us a little about the Little Rebels Children’s Book Award and how it came to be founded?

It grew out of the movement to revitalise a body for radical booksellers – this became The Alliance of Radical Booksellers.  Housmans and Five Leaves wanted to launch an award for political non-fiction for adults Bread and Roses this was inaugurated in 2012.  The booksellers decided they wanted a parallel children’s award.  They were unsure on format and so decided to approach a radical children’s bookseller.  Letterbox Library was the only dedicated one.  Letterbox set-up the parameters to start the award and ran this on behalf of The Alliance of Radical Booksellers.  The work got bigger and bigger and it began to feel unmanageable.  Housman’s took over for a year with Catherine Barter taking the lead on this and since then Housmans and Letterbox Library have joined forces to run it.

Which books have won in the past and what made them winners?

Azzi in between – Sarah Garland. 

It felt innovative, we weren’t  aware of many graphic novel picture books which looked at refugees.  There was a lot of information coming out at the time about refugees and particularly those in Syria. There was an avalanche of news that was difficult to digest and process.  Judges felt Azzi in Between relayed this in a way that was understandable but that also managed to be quite optimistic, without being idealistic.

After Tomorrow – Gillian Cross

It’s a novel on the theme of refugees but it takes a different approach - the book starts with the five banks crashing in the UK.  This forces people to seek refuge and causes mass starvation.  It’s a Dystopian, designed to get children to empathise with refugee experiences, imagining themselves in a position they might otherwise never be in.  Everything is flipped on its head with the subversion of ideas around who runs the camps and who inhabits them.

Scarlett Ibis – Gill Lewis

Gill Lewis has been on the shortlist many times ,an indication of how great she is at tackling politic issues but also perhaps signposting how little political writing there is for children.  It looks at the care system in the UK and manages to critique it without ever demonising social workers.  It explores ideas of mental health as well which had tended to be covered more in Young Adult fiction than in Middle Grade.

I am Henry Finch – Alexis Deacon, illustrated by Viviane Schwarz

This is the youngest book to win the Little Rebels award.  It’s really original and questions ideas of identity and individuality in both a philosophical and a literal way.  It makes big existential ideas tangible even for four-year-olds and so feels remarkable.

Ada Twist, Scientist – Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts

It is beautifully created, warm and funny.  There were conversations around whether or not it is radical, however, there are not enough books published like this and part of the role for the awards is to amplify.  It depicts a young black girl in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and felt relatively pioneering and a way to raise aspirations.  It’s more subtle than some of the other books showing girls in STEM as it is more detailed, fun and nuanced and it doesn’t feel tokenistic.

The Muslims – Zanib Mian

Sweet Apple published it as The Muslims and it later became part of a series, Planet Omar.  For us it won for lots of different reasons, judges were attracted to the idea that it was a small publisher and that the author was little known.   Part of the remit for the award is to amplify the voice of those who are not being amplified – creators and publishers.  Its theme was also important as it counters Islamophobia.  What is clever about it is it has a fun adventure narrative, but also offers a guide to Muslim Life and Culture in Modern Britain.  It’s very clear in its mission, but manages to counter ever becoming didactic through its adept use of humour.

Freedom – Catherine Johnson

It won because there are so few books being written in this country which look at the United Kingdom’s culpability in enslavement.  The country’s riches are built on enslavement and the persecution of other people.  It’s a history that isn’t talked about or taught enough.  In the hands of Catherine Johnson the subject is well-researched by a writer who handles historical fiction for middle grade at its absolute best.

Did you read any radical books as a child and what impression did these make upon you?

Catherine: I wish the answer was yes, but I don’t think I did.  Most of my reading was very white and  I used to read Bunty comics which often held a somewhat sanctimonious moral position which was put across in quite a condescending way.  There were books that I read which were socially engaged, worthy children’s books centring around divorce and the family.  Most of the radical ideas I came across were through children’s television with programmes like Grange Hill and Byker Grove.

Fen:  It wasn’t good.  The few books I read which might be considered radical included Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy.   This felt very different to me, it wasn’t making a comment about a feisty girl, but was an astute assertive character who wasn’t ‘girl-ified’, but was just a really interesting female lead.

The other book which made a real impression on me was The Story of Ferdinand –  it was an old title about pacifism and a bull that doesn’t want to join in with the other bulls in the bullfighting ring, he just wants to sniff flowers.  There was a deliberate anti-war message.  It is probably quite sexist now, but really challenged ideas around masculinity and about war.

What qualities do you look for in judges and how does judging work?

Fen: Firstly they have to have a good knowledge of children’s literature – we have judges from a range of perspectives, they might be a bookseller, they could be a creator, they could be a consultant or educator.  What is important is that joined with that, there has to be a political drive!  That might be through charities they have been aligned with, through activism, but it might be quieter through an understanding and lobbying that children should have access to a wider range of titles.  This in itself can be quite a radical form of politics.

Catherine: One of the interesting things with the awards is that we don’t always have a full understanding of what radical means until people are in the judging meetings discussing the books.  It’s a good way for people’s positions to become clear. 

Fen Coles: We  tend to have four to five judges (the smallest we have had was two - Liz Laird and Wendy Cooling in the inaugural year).  The judges get sent the shortlisted books and have a month to look at them.  There is a judging meeting which Catherine and I attend but don’t input into.  It’s not a chaired meeting, decisions always get made in the meeting and it usually lasts around half a day.  Last year we had a bit of a shadowing initiative with school children and their feedback was read to the judges as part of the meeting.

How would you like to see the award develop?

Fen: We’ve had funding this year, which helped us to do some development work. We want to build on that.  The award has a role to play in inspiring other creators to create radical children’s fiction.  There’s a dearth of this in the UK and we would like to see more of it and hope the award might influence its creating, giving a license to create!  It would help the award to be able to have a part-time, paid worker, but these positions are always difficult to fund raise for.  We would like to see the school shadowing built upon and it was brilliant being able to read back the children’s views and comments on the Award Night.  The audience really liked that and the children had valid and often different perspectives so we’d love to develop this and increase their input.

Catherine: There’s also the idea of having more associated prizes.  Perhaps a sister Young Adult prize, a children’s non-fiction prize to help encourage the world of radical publishing for children.

It’s been a challenging year for awards and books when will the winners be announced?

We are hoping to announce in late September.  We’ve pushed this back as far as we can without impacting on next year’s awards.  The further away we can get the announcement, the closer we are to having some sort of event.  Now that we have funding, we want to use that to celebrate and further amplify the winners.

Are there any ways in which libraries can get involved?

The award chimes well with libraries as they have a history of bringing a wide selection of books to the communities they serve.  Little Rebels really lifts out the smaller publishers and lesser known voices.  If libraries can be showcasing the shortlist and if we can do things to enable and empower them to do that it would be great.  Having a librarian on the judging panel would be really useful.

We’re delighted by the partnership with the National Shelf Service as we are keen for as many children as possible to learn about these books.  Perhaps there are ways libraries might be able to look at Little Rebels events, hosting authors who are shortlisted, using some of the books in children’s book groups or during storytimes.

A big thank you to Catherine and Fen for taking the time to talk to us at a busy point in the Little Rebels award calendar and for all of the energy and time that is invested in a deeply important award.