Affirm Press Mentorship Award winners; NEWC fellowship shortlist

Affirm Press and Varuna, The National Writers’ House have announced the winners of the 2021 Affirm Press Mentorship Award.

The winners are:

• Maha Sidaoui for ‘One Arabian Girl’
• Alison Whipp for ‘Love on the Zigzag’
• Annika Herb for ‘The Pieces of You’.

The award gives three writers with the opportunity to develop their manuscript through a week of residency at Varuna. The residency includes a private writing studio, accommodation and meals. The Affirm Press editorial team will be in residence with the writers providing in-depth manuscript development and ongoing feedback.

This year Varuna received 84 manuscripts from writers across Australia. The Affirm Press kids publishing team said: ‘We had our work cut out for us this year! The judges put together a fantastic shortlist and it was incredibly tough to pick just three winners. We greatly look forward to working with the successful authors at Varuna in April, but we would also like to congratulate all the shortlisted writers for their brilliant work.’

Varuna/New England Writers’ Centre Fellowship shortlist

The New England Writers’ Centre (NEWC) has announced the finalists for the 2021 Varuna/NEWC Fellowship: Jane O’Sullivan for ‘Homework’ and James O’Hanlon for ‘I Love Spiders’.

Now in its third year, the fellowship is awarded to a writer currently living in the New England region or who has previously lived there for at least five years. O’Sullivan and O’Hanlon will both receive two free workshops of their choice from NEWC’s 2022 program, and the winner of the fellowship will receive a one week residency at Varuna, travel funds and a one-on-one consultation with a Varuna expert.

Category: Awards Local news