Black wins 2015 Ampersand Prize

Melbourne writer Calanthe Black has won Hardie Grant Egmont’s (HGE) 2015 Ampersand Prize for unpublished writers for her untitled YA sci-fi novel.

Black’s entry was chosen from more than 250 submissions to the prize, which was open to YA manuscripts and, for the first time, middle-grade manuscripts. Black’s manuscript ‘follows a 15-year-old stowaway as she is caught in a war between humanity and a brutal alien race of “crowpeople”’.

In a statement, HGE commissioning editor Marisa Pintado described the manuscript as ‘deeply strange, magnetic and original’. ‘It’s an electrifying journey into deep space, yet remains completely grounded,’ said Pintado.

Black has written a number of educational chapter books and short stories for magazines, and ‘has been working on her YA writing behind the scenes for a long time’, said Pintado.

HGE will publish the novel in September 2016.

In 2014, HGE announced it would not award an Ampersand Prize as it did not receive a ‘single manuscript that met all the criteria’.

Category: Local news