Patrice Lawrence has been designated as the successor to Frank Cottrell-Boyce in the role of Waterstones children's laureate.

Patrice Lawrence 被指定接替 Frank Cottrell-Boyce，擔任 Waterstones 兒童文學桂冠作家。

The appointment of Lawrence, a recipient of an MBE and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, follows a career characterized by the publication of sixteen works, including the award-winning novel Orangeboy. Her literary focus frequently addresses the experiences of Black British citizens and individuals within the foster care system, a thematic preoccupation informed by her own history as a child of Trinidadian immigrants and her early experience in private foster care. Lawrence has identified a historical deficit of representation for non-white authors in children's literature, noting that her own creative trajectory was significantly altered upon encountering the work of Malorie Blackman.

Lawrence 是 MBE 獲勳者及皇家文學會院士，此次獲任得益於其發表過十六部作品的職業生涯，其中包括獲獎小說《Orangeboy》。她的文學焦點經常探討英國黑人公民及寄養家庭制度中個體的經驗，這一主題源於她本身作為特立尼達移民後代以及早年處於私人寄養照顧的經歷。Lawrence 指出，兒童文學中非白人作者的代表性長期匱乏，並提到在接觸到 Malorie Blackman 的作品後，她的創作軌跡發生了顯著改變。

Regarding her strategic objectives for the two-year tenure, Lawrence intends to utilize the position to mitigate social fragmentation. She posits that shared literary engagement can facilitate a sense of communal cohesion and individual validation for marginalized youth. Furthermore, Lawrence seeks to transition from anecdotal evidence to empirical data by gathering research on the impact of literature on specific vulnerable cohorts, including refugee children and the offspring of incarcerated individuals. This evidentiary approach is intended to inform future policy adjustments.

關於其兩年任期的策略目標，Lawrence 打算利用此職位來緩解社會碎片化。她認為共同的文學參與可以促進邊緣青少年的社區凝聚感與個人價值認同。此外，Lawrence 尋求將個案經驗轉化為實證數據，收集關於文學對特定弱勢群體（包括難民兒童及囚犯後代）影響的研究。這種基於證據的方法旨在為未來的政策調整提供參考。

Concurrent with this appointment, the National Literacy Trust has reported a significant decline in reading for pleasure among youth aged eight to eighteen, noting a 36% decrease over two decades. While the government has initiated the National Year of Reading to address this trend, Lawrence argues that the crisis is exacerbated by structural socioeconomic disparities—such as the closure of libraries and the rising cost of publications—and a pedagogical shift toward the functional assessment of texts over aesthetic enjoyment.

與此任命同時，國家識字信託基金（National Literacy Trust）報告指出，八至十八歲青少年出於興趣的閱讀量顯著下降，二十年間減少了 36%。雖然政府啟動了「國家閱讀年」以應對這一趨勢，但 Lawrence 認為，結構性的社會經濟差異——例如圖書館關閉與出版物成本上升——以及教學上偏向文本的功能性評估而非美學享受，加劇了這場危機。

Lawrence now assumes the laureateship with a mandate to promote social inclusion and establish an empirical basis for the efficacy of children's literature.

Lawrence 現接任桂冠作家，其使命是促進社會包容，並為兒童文學的成效建立實證基礎。