Winner, 2019 Penguin Literary Prize

Tonight, at a small event at the Leading Edge Books Conference in Adelaide, I was awarded the 2019 Penguin Literary Prize for my third manuscript The Spill. 

As an emerging writer making the slow, steady climb towards 50, it means so much to me to have been read, considered and, ultimately, selected for this incredible prize.

Following years of stealing whatever time I could to write—often with children hanging off me like Christmas baubles—this prize acknowledges and legitimises my writing in an invaluable way. 

This is the first prize that my kids have been truly excited about me winning because, like me, they’ve grown up with the iconic Penguin on the bookshelves around them. I am thrilled to be working with the PRHA team to turn my hopeful manuscript into one of those books.

Watch this space…