House of Lords honour for UCLan publishing students and graduate

24 July 2017

Two students and a graduate receive national awards

A graduate and two students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) have been honoured at the House of Lords for their publishing skills.

The trio are recipients of The Printing Charity’s Print Futures Awards, which are open to people in the UK under the age of 30 working in the publishing industry, and have each received £1,500 to help pay for costs associated with relevant training courses to advance their careers.  Graduate Alexandra Holmes, who left UCLan in 2015 and now works for Jessica Kingsley Publishers, joined current master's students Charlotte Coldwell and Charlon Flynn at the awards event in the House of Lords.

Alexandra, who is originally from Portland, Oregon, in the US, commented: “I think what the charity does with this is fantastic and really makes me excited to be a part of a great community of such passionate individuals. I've found what I really love to do, and this award is allowing me to further my education to improve my work and open up a world of possibilities in the future.

“It's truly an honour to be able to accept this award at the House of Lords alongside so many other young people who value the printing and publishing industries in the same way.”

Current MA Publishing student Charlotte Coldwell said: “I applied for the award so that I could fund the printing of my major project, a book called the Cornish seal sanctuary. I talked to them about how printing this book would benefit my future career, as well as how it could help future students on the course as the money made from the book will go back into UCLan Publishing."

"I’m really pleased to have won this award. It means that I will be able to apply for future publishing jobs with a full set of skills and knowledge on how to publish a book."

“I’m really pleased to have won this award. It means that I will be able to apply for future publishing jobs with a full set of skills and knowledge on how to publish a book. I will also be able to take the printed book to interviews and talk about real sales figures. I think this will really make my job applications stand out.”

Head of UCLan Publishing and Chair of the Association of Publishing Education, Debbie Williams, received a special invite to the awards presentation because it is rare for three students connected to the same course to win.

Debbie said: “I am incredibly proud of all three winners who are working hard to make their way in a very competitive industry.  As the competition is open to such a large number of entrants, it is exceptional that three of the winners are connected to the same course and hopefully it proves that UCLan’s publishing course gives the students all the tools they need to get ahead in their careers.”

Charlon Flynn, who is also a student on the MA Publishing course, said: “Winning this award has given me huge confidence in being able to make my book, Luna’s Eclipse, available to those who also love the night sky and want to learn about astronomy. I have thoroughly enjoyed planning the marketing process in terms of touring the picture book around schools, especially for those children who have an interest in science.  They would love this picture book and this is my opportunity to bring it to them and share how fascinating Luna and learning about astronomy is.”

UCLan’s MA Publishing course is the only specialist postgraduate publishing programme in the North of England.  An undergraduate degree in publishing is being developed, with the first cohort expected to begin in September 2018.  For more information email Debbie Williams on DJWilliams1@uclan.ac.uk