Shortlist announced for 2017 Vic Prem’s Unpublished Manuscript award

The shortlist for the 2017 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript has been announced.

The three shortlisted authors and their works are:

• Kaz Kilmore-Barrymore for ‘Truth Untold’: a ‘murder mystery featuring Chrissie O’Bryan, investigative journalist, who receives a tip off that there is something dodgy going on at the docklands’. ‘Told against the backdrop of the newsroom, docklands and government, this is a well paced mystery with excellent characterisation,’ said the judges.
• Laura Stortenbeker for ‘Low Light’: a ‘novella/collection’ that deals with ‘themes of early motherhood, drink driving, loss, hospital encounters, sisters and sexual experiences in vivid and raw prose’. ‘The stories in this collection gesture subtlety to one another as characters appear and reappear, allowing deep and varied insights into the lives and troubles within this suburban community,’ said the judges, describing it as a ‘dark exploration of suburbs’.
• Christian White for ‘Decay Theory’: a ‘page-turner about a small town mystery dealing with trauma, cult and memory’. The novel begins when ‘an American accountant approaches Melbourne-based Kimberly Leamy and tells her he believes she is Sammy Went, a child who was abducted as a two year old from her home in Manson, Kentucky. But as [Kimberly] investigates her family, questions arise and she travels to Kentucky to find answers,’ said the judges.

Two entries were highly commended: ‘Hey Luna and Other Stories’ by Terry Donnelly, a ‘compelling short story collection’; and ‘The Nancys’ by R W R McDonald, a murder mystery with an 11-year-old narrator.  

The winner of the $15,000 prize will be announced at the opening night of the Emerging Writers’ Festival on 14 June. For more information about the award, click here.

Category: Local news