I am overjoyed that my historical manuscript Un|Common Thread has been longlisted for the 2024 Gloria Burley Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript. This mother and daughter story is very close to my heart.
I began this manuscript about eight years ago after my mother died. I inherited a problematically titled book ‘Founders of Australia’, a biography of the First Fleet. Old post-it notes like breadcrumbs showed me the few facts of my ancestor Ann. Ann, a convict and single mother, ultimately made an incredibly tough decision so her daughter (and the generations that followed) could live a better life.
This story is inspired by her.
I approached the writing with a sense of curiosity and more questions than answers:
- What drives a mother to give up her only child at ten years’ old?
- How would a child feel abandoned but ultimately living a better life?
- What life was like for a single mother convict?
- How much agency did a woman in Ann’s circumstances have?
All writers know that it can be a long and lonely road to publication. Who knows what will come from this. For now, though, I am celebrating the fact that this story has been longlisted out of 12,000 other manuscripts after being judged blindly.
“Our judging panel reviewed the submissions blind against five selection criteria of originality and creativity, plot and storytelling, character development, setting and atmosphere, dialogue and voice, and emotional impact … From the longlist, a final shortlist will be selected from which our winners will emerge and be announced on Saturday 7 September 2024. “We have been very impressed with the entries for the 2024 Heart Awards, they all highlight the sheer creative talent and proficiency of Australia’s writing community,” remarked Karen.”
– Whitsunday Writers Festival
Congratulations to all longlistees
- Compass: Losing Him, Jessica Ellen Pryor (NSW), drama, romance.
- Condemnation to Beasts, Noah Bennett (Vic), crime/thriller, romance.
- Constant Companions, Tara East (Qld), drama.
- Island Wolf, Rachel Armstrong (Qld), fantasy/sci-fi, romance.
- Italian by Default, Margaret Walker (NSW), drama.
- Rescue Remedy, Jane Carrick (NSW), crime/thriller.
- Rose and Graham, Lesley Boland (Qld), drama.
- Starts with C, Garry R McDougall (NSW), crime/thriller, historical.
- Strange Affliction, Greg Woodland (NSW), horror, romance.
- The Christmas Cult, Catherine Owen (NSW), comedy, drama.
- The Longest August, J.C. Burke (NSW), crime/thriller.
- The Murder Tree, Greg Woodland (NSW), crime/thriller.
- The Paris Artists, Kellie Cox (Qld), romance.