This year, I’ve had the honour of being the co-ordinator for the New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing, which in just six years has become one of Australia’s most prestigious awards in the genre, and has launched the careers of several writers, most notably Emma Viskic, multiple award winning author, who was the first winner of the Fiction category in the inaugural(2013) Thunderbolt Prize.

The results of the 2018 Prize have been announced today(Nov 30) and I’m delighted to also be able to publish that announcement here. A full list of winners, highly commended and commended citations, as well as judges’ comments and reports, is available on the New England Writers’ Centre website.

Congratulations to all, and thank you to our wonderful judges and sponsors!

The New England Writers’ Centre is delighted to announce the results of the 2018 New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing.

The New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing is a national award for unpublished short-form crime writing in three main categories: Fiction, sponsored by the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education, University of New England; Non-Fiction, sponsored by Moin and Associates, Lawyers; and Poetry, sponsored by the New England Writers’ Centre. There are also three special awards: the New England Award for a writer resident in New England, sponsored by Readers’ Companion Bookshop; the Emerging Author Award, for an unpublished writer over 18, and the Youth Award, for writers under 18, sponsored by Christmas Press and Little Pink Dog Books, children’s publishers based in Armidale.

In its sixth year in 2018, the Prize attracted a strong field of entries from all over Australia, by writers both published and unpublished. New England writers also made a strong showing this year, with several receiving high commendations and commendations, including the winner of the New England Award, Phillipa Trelford, who received a Highly Commended citation in the Poetry category. Other New England writers represented include Linda Brandon, who received a Highly Commended citation in Fiction, Lynne Newberry, who received a Commended citation in Fiction, and Annie Worthing, who received a Highly Commended citation in the Youth Award.

The winners of the 2018 New England Thunderbolt Prize are as follows:

Poetry: Ivy Ireland (NSW), for Grey is not your colour.

Fiction: Nic Lesley (NSW) for Bottom of the harbour scheme.

Non-Fiction: Christopher Ryan(NSW) for Sins of the Fathers.

New England Award: Philippa Trelford(Armidale)for Chiaroscuro, Madgwick. Also Highly Commended, Poetry category.

Emerging Author Award: Nic Lesley(NSW) for Bottom of the harbour scheme. Also Winner, Fiction category.

Youth Award: Eva Mustapic, age 14 (WA) for Laundry Day.

The New England Writers’ Centre warmly congratulates all the winners, as well as all those who received Highly Commended and Commended citations. A full list of winners, as well as those highly commended and commended, plus judges’ comments, is attached.

All entries were blind-read by the judges, with all identifying marks removed, other than title and an assigned number. Judges this year were Jean Kent, Poetry; Sulari Gentill, Fiction; Pip Cummings, Non-Fiction; and Beattie Alvarez. The New England Award and Emerging Author Award were chosen based on judges’ recommendations.  The winning entries will be published on the New England Writers’ Centre website in December.

The New England Writers’ Centre wishes to thank the hard-working and thoughtful judges and all the generous sponsors of the New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing for helping to make 2018 another successful year for the Prize. And a big thank you to all entrants!