Geraldton-born Western Australian writer Holden Sheppard is one of three writers shortlisted for the Prize for Writing for Young Adults in the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Holden is in the running to receive a $25,000 prize, as well as the overall Victorian Prize for Literature worth an additional $100,000, the single most valuable literary award in the country.
Our very own Champion of Literature and the force behind the Fogarty Literary Award, Annie Fogarty, has been named the 2020 WA Australian of the Year for her work through the Fogarty Foundation. Every year, the Australian of the Year Awards celebrate the achievements and contributions of eminent Australians who are positive role models in our community.
Madelaine Dickie will be one of 11 authors to represent Australian literature on five different continents thanks to Writers Victoria and the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund. While many recipients will head overseas, Madelaine will use the money to research her proposed manuscript ‘Gas Days or the Cost of Doing Good: A Biography of Wayne Bergmann’ in Broome.
Novelist and City of Fremantle Hungerford Award winner Madelaine Dickie will try her hand at a new genre next year. The Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund grant will enable the Exmouth resident to commence the research and development of a unique biography about Wayne Bergmann, a Nyikina man, former finalist in the Western Australian of the Year Awards and former CEO of the Kimberley Land Council.
The Society of Women Writers Victoria (SWWV) has awarded the biennial Nance Donkin Award to Albany-based Western Australian author Dianne Wolfer. Best known for her history-inspired picture books for older readers, Dianne has a diverse arts practice that includes novels for junior to young adult readers.
Almost three decades ago, Brenda Walker was an aspiring writer who became the very first winner of the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award. Now this multi-award-winning writer and Emeritus Professor, who has recently been chair of the judging panel for the Stella Prize, is a member of the judging panel for the Award’s thirtieth anniversary year. Also new is Sisonke Msimang, South African writer and oral storyteller, while Richard Rossiter – writer, editor and seasoned judge of the Hungerford Award – and our own Fremantle Press publisher, Georgia Richter, will return for another round.
Meg McKinlay and Deb Fitzpatrick are two of just five writers from around Australia to have secured a coveted May Gibbs Creative Time Residential Fellowship for 2020.
More and More and More by Ian Mutch and Off The Track by Cristy Burne are shortlisted for the Environment Award for Children’s Literature. The award, which is in its 25th year, honours books promoting a love of nature in children through reading and stories.
