A SWINDON author saw his career soar when he was presented with an award by X-Files star Gillian Anderson.

Steve Antony, of Old Town, won the second Evening Standard Oscar’s First Book Prize for his critically-acclaimed debut picture novel, The Queen’s Hat, which tells the story of a whirlwind journey around London.

The 38-year-old was presented with the £5,000 prize by X-Files and The Fall star Gillian at a glittering awards ceremony held at the Hubbard & Bell restaurant in High Holborn last week.

Steve’s whimsical tale beat competition from Hedgehugs, written by Steve Wilson and illustrated by Lucy Tapper, Dangerous! by Tim Warnes, This Book Just Ate My Dog! by Richard Byrne, and The Sea Tiger by Victoria Turnbull.

The writer-illustrator said that he never expected to win the prestigious award which honours the best first books for children to pick up on their own.

“When they called my name, I was at the back of the room and I could see Gillian holding the award. It was completely surreal and I was shocked to win,” he said.

“I’m a hardcore X-Files fan so it was great to meet Gillian and she’s a really nice lady.”

And It seems that Steve has a new celebrity fan in Gillian who said the book was “clever, shiny and I love all the little soldiers”.

The Oscar’s First Book Prize, sponsored by Waitrose, is held in memory of the Standard’s executive editor James Ashton’s son Oscar, who was three-and-a-half when he died of a heart condition in December 2012.

An esteemed panel of judges – including Gillian, the former Pearson CEO and first female board director of Twitter Dame Marjorie Scardino, Waitrose marketing director Rupert Thomas and Oscar’s parents James Ashton and Viveka Alvestrand – whittled 60 entries down to the final five last month.

Mr Antony, who studied a Higher National Diploma in Illustration at Swindon College, said the message behind the awards was the most important thing to him.

He said: “It was great to be part of the awards as it’s a celebration of childhood and of literacy and also paying tribute to Oscar and his life.”

The award caps an incredible few years for Steve, who spent nine years working in a call-centre before studying a masters in children’s book illustration at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.

A book deal with publishing giant Hodder followed, later being nominated for the prestigious Waterstones Children book prize for the Queen’s Hat this year.

When reflecting on going from call centre to critically acclaimed author, Steve said his success is still something he is still getting used to.

“It’s all just starting to sink in now. To finally be doing something I love and for people to be enjoying what I do, it’s completely surreal. Working in a call centre and trying for years and years to get into what is such a tough industry makes me realise how far I’ve come.”

It’s a busy time for the talented author with two books set for publication in the coming months, including Betty Goes Bananas in Her Pyjamas and the sequel to the Queen’s Hat, The Queen’s Handbag - which sees the monarch’s clothing-related bad luck continue when her bag is snatched by a swan.