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Mckenzie wins inaugural Affirm Press/Tablo crime writing competition

Dinuka Mckenzie, a Sydney-based writer and environmental planner, has won the inaugural Affirm Press/Tablo ‘The Perfect Crime’ competition for her manuscript ‘Flood Debris’.

Mckenzie receives an editorial and publishing mentorship with Affirm Press as part of the competition, which launched at the end of March, as well as a meeting with an editor to discuss pathways to publication, and shorter additional notes if the manuscript’s second draft is not accepted for publication.

Affirm Press and Tablo chose ‘Flood Debris’ from a pool of more than 100 entries, after a shortlist was prepared by Tablo using a combination of ‘reader engagement data and editorial opinion’.

‘Flood Debris’ follows Kate Miles, a ‘smart, grounded detective who is only weeks away from maternity leave’ when she discovers an unsolved mystery of a man who drowned in a flood, and his wife who survived and swam to safety.

Affirm Press senior editor Ruby Ashby-Orr praised Mckenzie’s opening chapters for being ‘sharp, clean and intriguing’, and for the ‘well-developed central character of Kate Miles’. ‘This is a promising crime narrative that hooks the reader from page one,’ she added.

Mckenzie will begin the mentorship in August.

 

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Category: Local news