Attendees of HNSA Sydney 2019 had the opportunity to enter three competitions.
- The ARA Short Story Contest
- TCW First Pages Pitch Contest
- The inaugural Colleen McCullough Residency Prize
ARA Short Story Prize
ARA’s generous sponsorship enabled us to establish the First Nations Participation Fund to cover the travel and accommodation expenses of our Indigenous speakers. It also helped us to pay Australian Society of Authors rates to over seventy speakers. As ARA also provided the prize for the HNSA Short Story Contest, it was our pleasure to name the prize in their honour.
The winner of this years ARA Short Story Prize was Christina King for her story ‘The Ink Stain’.
Shortlisted writers were Lou Greene with her short story ‘Fare thee Well’ and Dell Brand with ‘The Driver’.
You can read all three entries in Swinburne University’s library Journal Backstory. We would like to thank Wendy Dunn for these publishing opportunities. We should also thank Sophie Masson for being the judge, and Eagle Books for providing prize packs including the first edition of Jules Verne’s Mikhail Strogov for the winner. Not to forget Richard Lee for donating a year’s membership to the Historical Novel Society to the winner and agreeing to publish ‘The Ink Stain’ on the HNS website. Another great publishing opportunity.
TCW First Pages Pitch Contest
The TCW First Pages Pitch Contest is an HNSAustralasia signature event. It gives authors and opportunity to have the first five hundred words of a work in process read aloud to a panel of judges. Thanks to the generosity of TCW we were able to offer the winner a cash prize for the first time in 2019. In addition to an annual membership donated by the Australian Society of Authors. TCW also contributed towards the payment of our seventy speakers. We were therefore thrilled to name the First Pages Pitch Conference in their honour.
The winner of this years TCW First Pages Pitch Contest was Lyss Morgan with ‘Loving Davey Bray’
With thanks to the judges, Claire Hallifax (Scholastic Australia), Michelle Lovi (Odyssey Books) and Margaret Connolly (Margaret Connolly & Associates Agency) and, of course, Rachel Nightingale our talented narrator.
Colleen McCullough Residency
HNSA Sydney 2019 saw the launch of the Inaugural Colleen McCullough Residency. Due to the generosity of Burnt Pine Travel and Baunti Escapes, the winners will honour Colleen McCullough’s contribution to Australian literature while enjoying a week’s stay on Norfolk Island. The residency will include a tour of Colleen McCullough’s library and accomodation on the late, great writer’s property. The winners of the Inaugural Colleen McCullough Residency were Chris Bell with The Bone Singer and Sally Collin James with The Recipe for White. Let’s hope the winners also catch some of McCullough’s inspiration while writing in this iconic location.
