Penguin cover contest winners

Penguin has named Joe Bundock and Ivy Watts the winners of its 2026 Cover Design Award after asking entrants to redesign two fantasy classics. (thebookseller.com) Bundock, a final-year student at Leeds Arts University, won the adult fiction category for Terry Pratchett’s *Night Watch*. Watts, a self-employed graphic communication designer, won the children’s fiction category for Madeleine L’Engle’s *A Wrinkle in Time*. (thebookseller.com; leeds-art.ac.uk) Penguin opened the competition on October 16, 2025, closed entries on January 29, 2026, shortlisted 20 covers, then sent shortlisted entrants feedback from art directors before final judging in March and April. (penguin.co.uk; penguin.co.uk) The award is aimed at designers and illustrators in the United Kingdom and Ireland with less than one year of paid creative experience, including students, recent graduates and people trying to enter the industry. Winners get a six-month mentorship with Penguin’s art department, a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium tablet and £100 in Penguin books. (penguin.co.uk; thebookseller.com) This year’s briefs asked entrants to do more than make old books look new. Penguin told adult-fiction entrants to reflect the fantasy genre and the “political and moral themes” of *Night Watch*, while the children’s brief asked for a fresh cover for readers aged 9 to 11. (penguin.co.uk; leeds-art.ac.uk) Bundock said his *Night Watch* design drew on medieval illuminated manuscripts and medieval woodcuts, using linocut printmaking to give the cover a handmade look. Judge Beci Kelly said the result “feels classic” and could work across a full series. (penguin.co.uk; leeds-art.ac.uk) Watts’ *A Wrinkle in Time* cover used hand-drawn and digital elements, and judge Anna Billson said its restricted palette and simple illustration created an “intriguing and engaging” design that carried cleanly from front cover to spine and back. Em Kirsten placed second and Jiazhen Cai placed third in that category. (thebookseller.com; creativereview.co.uk) In the *Night Watch* category, Sunny Tsang finished second and Peter Goddard finished third. The judging panel included Beci Kelly, Lee Motley, Rob Wilkins and Kishan Rajani for adult fiction, and Anna Billson, Jacqui McDonough and Iqbal Hussain for children’s fiction. (creativereview.co.uk) Penguin said the award has run since 2007 and has helped launch designers including Harry Woodgate, Jack Smyth, Pete Adlington and Fruzsina Czech. The publisher paired this year’s announcement with YouGov polling that found 49% of adults aged 18 to 24 said a cover matters when choosing a book, compared with 27% of people over 55. (thebookseller.com) That leaves Penguin with two winning covers built around the same bet: that a new visual language can bring older books to new readers without changing the books themselves. (thebookseller.com; penguin.co.uk)