Reinstate Kate Greenaway's name on CILIP illustration award, a statement by Dr Rose Roberto and Tamsin Roswell, petition creators

It is so important that we name those who came before us so they are not forgotten. Let's remember and celebrate the amazing women illustrators who developed the craft.

The work of illustrators, and specifically children's book illustrators, is so undervalued. The renaming of this award was gross and callous.

Everybody is so tired of corporate nonsense. The Kate Greenaway medal is so well known, it’s absolutely not on to rename it for a man and a giant corporation, that’s not in the spirit of things at all. And whoever those people are who want this thing named after themselves, shame on you! If you think high quality literary illustration is important then by all means sponsor it. But making yourself the centre of the attention is just crass.

Women should not be erased from the historical record!

Important.

I want her name to stay on this award since she is such an important person.

Carnegie is a good name for a book award - but Greenaway is far better!

It's astonishing that CILIP should wish to delete such an important woman illustrator - surely the award serves the dual purpose of remembering and promoting her contribution as well as recognising contemporary talent.

I might have agreed that another 'name' from a more recent generation of known illustrators could have been considered as a replacement for KG, but to swap her name for a Corporate Face - with what intimate connection with the art of illustration do these people actually have ? - is a slavish act of kowtowing. This would never have been considered in the past without some more imaginative effort to find a suitable, more modern, replacement - if it was really necessary. I cannot personally see much of KG's work without tiring of the unvarying reference to a mythical English past, but the presence of her work in countless [and I mean countless] card shops, charity shops and book shops etc give the art of illustration one of its most popular and recognised faces in the public domain. Think again CILIP; "‘The Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration’ – really!? What the hell does that convey about books, libraries and the art of illustration? And by the way, "The Yoto Carnegies are the UK's longest running and best-loved children's book awards, recognising outstanding reading experiences created through writing and illustration in books for children and young people" is just not true and CILIP should be ashamed of itself in being associated with such unprofessional [ because blatantly commercial] garbage.

Library Association/Cillip I am ashamed of you!

YES, to the illustrator, recognised more than Yoto Carnegie.

As school librarian, the Greenaway Medal is one of the key criteria I use in selection - the Greenaway name is already inked in the minds of readers, parents, librarians, and booksellers. Andrew Carnegie did not illustrate any books as far I as I know, and while he did many noble things for books and libraries, I think he has been adequately recognized for his contributions. Please return the name of this prize to the person whose art continues to inspire, and who did so much to promote book illustration and a love of reading to numerous generations.

Please honour the creative and not the branding. The naming of the award reflects its purpose and meaning. This rebranding does neither. Kate Greenaway forever ❤️

The Kate Greenaway award for illustration should be retained

Keeping names and memories alive is important. YotoCarnegie means far less and degrades this prestigious award which recognises the valuable contribution of illustrators.

This is insane, outrageous, and deeply retrograde, for all the reasons so well stated in the preamble to the petition. I would add that from an art historical point of view Greenaway was much more formally radical than is often carelessly assumed to be the case. This can actually be seen in the illustration accompanying the petition here where the figures are are placed on a small island of grass that is simply floated in the space of the page. The sun above them has been reduced to a geometric emblematic yellow disc and, startlingly, a huge rose is, again, floated above them. This non-naturalistic approach, apparent in her work from the late 1870s at least, places her within the currents of change and innovation that were coursing through western art at that time. Shame on you CILIP.

Yes - historical precedent above branding expediency every time!

The medal was, and should continue to be, in the name of an illustrator, not a corporation.

For decades, I have taught and published on the subject of 19th C. women writers and artists. This offends me on so many levels, both professionally and personally, as a feminist researcher.

The triumph of marketing over substance shouldn’t be allowed to erase the memory of a fine illustrator.