Van Zweden wins 2019 KYD unpublished manuscript award

Wednesday, 4 December 2019 Books+Publishing

Literary journal Kill Your Darlings (KYD) has announced Sam van Zweden as the winner of its 2019 unpublished manuscript award for her manuscript ‘Eating with my Mouth Open’.

Van Zweden receives $4000 and, along with the other shortlisted authors, received a week-long KYD/Varuna Copyright Agency Fellowship which took place in September. The judging panel for the prize comprised KYD publishing director Rebecca Starford, Allen & Unwin publisher Jane Palfreyman and the 2018 award winner Nicole McAlinden.

‘Eating with my Mouth Open’ is a ‘braided essay collection exploring the author’s relationship with food, family, memory, mental illness and body image’. You can read an extract of the work here.

Palfreyman said: ‘I found van Zweden’s voice and her wide-ranging curiosity intelligent and engaging throughout, and very much admired her accomplished prose, lyricism and precision. Her writing reminded me of Maggie Nelson’s work in its fragmented and poetic construction. I felt great empathy with Sam’s struggles with depression and self-harm, as well as her experiences navigating the mental health system and the overlap between physical and mental health.’

Van Sweden’s work was chosen from a shortlist of four and a longlist of eight, both announced in July.

For more information, see the KYD website.

Category: Awards Local news