ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

The 2020 Carmel Bird Digital Literary Award winner was announced today, and the winner is:

*drum roll*

Apologia, by Michalia Arathimos who I profiled in Meet a Kiwi author in 2017.  (You might remember that I reviewed her novel Aukati)

The following comes from the press release:

The prize judge Justin Wolfers described Arathimos’ collection as ‘an accomplished work of nuanced storytelling which varied and always searching and striking narratives. Really beautiful.’

Author Christos Tsiolkas declares Apologia, ‘a treasure’ and says Arathimos has ‘a born writer’s talent for creating captivating stories and lives.’

Two finalists were also announced: Katerina Cosgrove and her novella Zorba The Buddha described by Lee Kofman as ‘urgent and riveting’ and Brooke Dunnell for her short story collection Female(s and) Dogs which Wayne Marshall says ‘light a firecracker beneath the sleepy veneer of suburbia’.

Arathimos receives $3000 in prize money, and Cosgrove and Dunnell both receive $1000 each.

Apologia by Michalia Arathimos

Michalia is a Greek writer who has published work in The Lifted Brow, Westerly, Overland, Landfall and elsewhere. Michalia is Overland’s fiction reviewer. Her novel Aukati was published by Makaro Press. Michalia is the Writer in Residence at Randell Cottage and will hold the Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship in 2012.

Purchase here.

Female(s and) Dogs by Brooke Dunnell

Brooke is a Perth writer whose short fiction has been published in Best Australian Stories, Meanjin, Westerly, and other journals and anthologies. Her work has been recognised in a range of competitions including the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize 2017 and the Bridport Short Story Prize 2019.

Purchase here.

Zorba the Buddha by Katerina Cosgrove

Katerina is the author of two novels, The Glass Heart (Harper Collins) and Bone Ash Sky (Hardie Grant), as well as prize-winning short stories. Bone Ash Sky was a finalist for the Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award. Her works have been translated into multiple languages and made into a podcast. Katrina has been the recipient of Australia Council grants and residencies in Australia and overseas. She has Co-Judging the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature from 2014 and the Australia remade poetry competition in 2019.

Purchase here.