Lowestoft author uses heritage to 'unlock imagination'

Paula White won the Templar Illustration Prize for her children's book Bread, Buns and Biscuits

An author used her family heritage to "unlock her imagination" to pen an award-winning children's picture book.

Paula White, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, has won the Templar Illustration Prize for Bread, Buns and Biscuits.

The 44-year-old said she wrote the book, based on her hometown and her grandfather Percy, as part of the final project for her master's degree.

She said she was "proud" to bring to life Lowestoft's heritage for young children.

She said the book brought to life Lowestoft's heritage

The story invites readers into the everyday lives of Lowestoft's busy fishing village, around Whapload Road and where the Bird's Eye factory and other industrial units were built.

Ms White said the beach village was a busy and bustling community, with as many as 2,500 people working and living in small cottages and houses.

Her grandfather Percy, however, despite coming from a long line of fishermen, struggled with going out to sea.

Instead, he remained on dry land and became a baker, baking the bread, cakes and biscuits for all the workers.

"That personal connection unlocked my imagination," said Ms White.

Lowestoft's beach village was a "busy and bustling community"

Ms White's grandfather Percy was a baker in the town

She said she was "over the moon" to win the award, which comes with a cash prize and the chance of being published.

"I'm proud that it's my own heritage, my own town, I love it here," she said.

The beach village was around Whapload Road

Ms White said many of the fishermen lost their boats in World War Two and many of their houses were damaged. The great flood of 1953 was the "final blow" for the beach village, she said.

"There are a few buildings remaining and, if you look hard enough, some old net stores and the posts where the fisherman used to dry their nets remain," she said.

Judges said her work evoked "smells, tastes and sounds that have almost disappeared".

Ms White's fellow graduates from the children's illustration master's degree course at Anglia Ruskin University, Maria Coco and Sally Walker, won second and third place respectively.

By winning the award, Ms White has a chance of her book being published