ACTW Family Awards (in memorium) and ACTW Writing & Publishing Awards

Thank you to our incredible judges and congratulations to all shortlisted writers. We are delighted to be able to announce the 2020 awardees..

ANNE EDGEWORTH EMERGING WRITER’S FELLOWSHIP AWARD

Award Winners Natalie Cooke and Emilie Morscheck

The Anne Edgeworth Emerging Writer’s Fellowship is provided to an emerging writer in the Canberra Region. The Fellowship is worth up to $5,000 and is to be used to advance the recipients’ development in the craft of writing. The Fellowship is provided annually by the Anne Edgeworth Trust and administered by ACT Writers.

JUNE SHENFIELD NATIONAL POETRY AWARDS

First Place Elanna Herbert (NSW) for Part of its trunk
Second Place Carmel Summers (ACT) for Paper Daisies
Third Place Carla de Goede (VIC) for The Cleaning Woman

“Winning the June Shenfield Award brings validation and acknowledgement of my efforts as an emerging poet. It encourages me to keep up the work of being a poet, which is to consider and reflect on the human experience of the world, to share it with others. In this regard, in 2020, it is poignant to win with a poem about the bushfires many of us experienced last summer. As a woman born in Canberra and now living on the south coast, it pleases me to win an award managed by the ACT Writers Centre which was established by a woman. I thank you and the committee for your work in continuing and selecting this award.”

- Elanna Herbert

Category judged by Judith Nangala Crispin and Scott-Patrick Mitchell

MARJORIE GRABER-MCINNIS SHORT STORY AWARD

Award Winner
Sophie Clews Bygone
Highly Commended
Mick Donaldson The Navigators
Ian Hart Vertical
Deborah Huff-Horwood The Suitcase

“Winning this award is a wonderful validation of my work, but also something that encourages me to keep on writing, and to keep pushing myself to explore new ideas through my work. I have always used writing to help process and navigate difficult situations and emotions, so writing this story and winning this award is also a reminder of how important the arts and humanities are to helping us understand ourselves and our place in the world.” - Sophie Clews

Category judged by Beatrice Smith

FICTION AWARDS

2020 Fiction Award Winner
Andrew Einspruch forThe Light Bearer (Wild Pure Heart)

Highly Commended
Lisa Cassidy A Tale of Stars and Shadow (Tate House)
Amy Laurens How Not To Acquire A Castle (Inkprint Press)
Kaaron Warren Into Bones like Oil (Meerkat Press)

Judges’ comments

“The Light Bearer succeeds in establishing narrative voice, and showcases technical skill in both storytelling and character development, reflecting the authors’ talent. The world of the story feels alive, and each character has real depth, which informs their actions and helps to drive the plot forward. Andrew Einspruch should be commended for his imaginative and inspired tale, grounded in the realities of the human experience. It’s an intelligent, engaging and deserving winner of the top prize.”

Category judged by Andrew Hutchinson and Leife Shallcross

NONFICTION AWARDS

2020 Nonfiction Award Winner
George Quinn for Bandit Saints of Java (Monsoon Books Ltd)

Highly Commended
Rob Donnelly OUT OF ORDER (Create the Day)
Toni Hassan Families in the Digital Age (Hybrid Publishers)

Judges’ comments

“Bandit Saints of Java is a readable, well-researched, and interesting study of Javanese culture and religion. Through first-person reportage, evocative description, and sometimes wry observation, Quinn weaves a colourful story about pilgrimage sites and saints in Java. There is a palpable bedrock of scholarship throughout, but it is freshly rendered into his account. A very enjoyable book.”

Category judged by Helen Ennis and Patrick Mullins

CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS

Children’s Book Award Winner
Tania McCartney Fauna: Australia's Most Curious Creatures (NLA Publishing)

Highly Commended
Tracey Hawkins & Anil Tortop Leaping Lola (New Frontier Publishing)

Judges’ comments

“In Fauna: Australia's Most Curious Creatures author and illustrator Tania McCartney celebrates Australia’s much-loved native fauna in a unique and exquisitely intriguing manner. This beautifully crafted non-fiction picture book explores animal conservation and the sheer magnitude of Australia’s magnificent animal species in a way that is respectful and reflective of the books target audience. The meticulously researched facts and figures that fill each page are conveyed to spark curiosity in easy to absorb bites. The descriptive information is eloquently presented to not overwhelm. With a clever sprinkle of humour and subtle richness of language, it is sure to charm all readers.

The overall design, layout and production of this book is considerately thought out and instantly beckons the desire to delve-in and explore each page.  The vibrant, stylised and expressive illustrations work in true harmony with the books text, enhancing its appeal.” This book is a standout. It is visually and conceptually impressive. It will be a treasured favourite in classrooms and homes alike.”

Judges’ comments

“Leaping Lola is a captivating humorous picture book written by Tracey Hawkins. She has combined range of rhyming techniques and a successful read-aloud rhythm to engage readers of all ages as they discover Lola’s passion for dance. Tracey’s witty word choice not only enhances her storytelling but the vocabulary of her younger readers. Readers will feel compelled to flounce, bounce, frolic, prance, pirouette, spiral, swoop, slide, soar and twirl in response to Leaping Lola.

Anil Tortop’s illustrations exquisitely depict movement and emotions as the story crescendos to its peak and then its resolution. Anil brings an added storytelling layer to Leaping Lola, for example; the addition of braces on Lola’s teeth and the blue wren character that shadows Lola throughout the story both participating and reacting to the unfolding events. The production and design of Leaping Lola encourages readers to pick up the book. The endpapers are adorned with Friesian cow hide markings and the thick and glossy pages give it an opulent feeling. The importance of specific words and the beat within the story’s rhyming couplets are emphasised through the changes in the typography’s font, direction and size. Leaping Lola is an action-packed page-turner, which on the surface is a story about a carefree dancing Jersey cow yet simultaneously is a thought-provoking story about determination, belonging and acceptance. This is one of those books that young children will want to re-read over and over again.”

Category judged by Leanne Barrett and Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern

POETRY AWARDS

Poetry Award Winner
Sandra Renew Acting Like a Girl (Recent Work Press)

Highly Commended
Cham Zhi Yi blur by the (Subbed In)
Suzanne Edgar Catching the Light (Ginninderra Press)

Judges comments

Acting Like a Girl. From its deceptively declamatory opening poem, ‘Trust what I tell you. / I am here to describe / one of the greatest discoveries / that has ever been made’ this collection brings a muscular and well-dressed strength to its examination of gender, while revealing the protagonist's vulnerabilities as equally robust. As one example, that making a stand can come at a cost, ‘make convoluted arrangements to never leave / the dog home alone and vulnerable.’ while showing that patience and teaching can be ends in themselves, ‘Just wait for the dog. What else do you have to do?’ The book maintains an un-veering focus, and drawn from a series of interviews it develops a historical artifact that shows the reader a multitude of experiences while taking no prisoners; ‘the toad count rose, all those potential princes, under the wheels,’ while acknowledging the finiteness of the individual, ‘Where will my atoms go when I die? They’ll mix and meld with the Sandman, ride the V8 rumble….’ 

Category judged by Andrew Galan and Eleanor Malbon