2023 Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing
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Judges' Reports & Bios
Read the feedback from our esteemed judges of the 2023 Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing on the winning and commended entries in the primary categories.
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Fiction Judge - Ashley Kalagian Blunt
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Winner - Collateral Damage
by Janice Shaw Within the confines of its short form, 'Collateral Damage' achieves a lot. A layered story that examines moral ambiguity and the way the effects of crime ripple through families and communities, it's especially notable for its innovative incorporation of backstory amid well crafted scenes. The final implication of the protagonist works to draw the story together. |
Highly Commended - Blindside
by Barry Divola What makes 'Blindside' a standout is the writer's skillful use of scene to portray character. Rather than telling the reader a story, 'Blindside' brings us into the room with its distinctive characters. The ending lines of both scenes combine to brilliantly imply the story's inevitable conclusion. The evocative descriptions of orchids and their use to draw the two scenes together also demonstrate sharp skill. |
Highly Commended - You Mustn't Leave Nelly Alone
by Anita Punton
You Mustn’t Leave Nelly Alone immediately invites us into the story with a clever first line. It's only when we reach the story's end that the real meaning of that line becomes clear. The characters are vividly drawn, with distinctive, realistic dialogue. Throughout, the reader waits to discover how, exactly, this is a crime story – until the perfectly implied ending. A layered story that rewards rereading.
by Anita Punton
You Mustn’t Leave Nelly Alone immediately invites us into the story with a clever first line. It's only when we reach the story's end that the real meaning of that line becomes clear. The characters are vividly drawn, with distinctive, realistic dialogue. Throughout, the reader waits to discover how, exactly, this is a crime story – until the perfectly implied ending. A layered story that rewards rereading.
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Non-Fiction Judge - Anthony Maniaty
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Winner - Two Peas
by David Vernon This is a well-conceived and structured piece of short non-fiction, employing some of the best creative writing techniques - notably in this case, the use of the reveal. There are some wonderful 'turns' here, clearly aimed at overturning readers' assumptions. The writing is lively and engaging. In the 'recreated' sections, the dialogue is excellent and gives strong clues to the social stratification between the diverse characters, while adding to the overall sense of authenticity. Historically too, the author’s tone shows clearly how moral values in Australian society have shifted - while taking us into a specific criminal territory that remains, a full century later, largely taboo for discussion. |
Highly Commended - Black and Blue
by Tess Merlin A well-crafted piece with an original approach - offering a vignette of the intractable issues surrounding Indigenous suffering seen through the eyes of a rookie, female, non-Indigenous police officer. The shifting points of view offers insights to the societal and personal impacts on both sides of the equation, and illustrates to what degree empathy and carefully nuanced judgment are encouraged or not in the policing of disadvantaged Australians. The choice of language - simple, strong, clear - works well here in creating a marked contrast with the complexities the piece describes. |
Commended & Winner of Emerging Author Award - They Came to Watch Mrs Monty
by Emma Andrews
The author has taken a compelling true-crime story of a century ago - involving infidelity, poisoning and suicide - and analysed both the investigation and subsequent 'sensational' trial through the prism of contemporary press coverage, which bounces between lurid and salacious details and the derogatory objectification of the women involved.
by Emma Andrews
The author has taken a compelling true-crime story of a century ago - involving infidelity, poisoning and suicide - and analysed both the investigation and subsequent 'sensational' trial through the prism of contemporary press coverage, which bounces between lurid and salacious details and the derogatory objectification of the women involved.
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Poetry Judge - Jamie Grant
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Winner - Sea Stitch
by Roger Vickery
A strong, haunting narrative the combines vigorous use of the language with creative varied use of rhyming form.
by Roger Vickery
A strong, haunting narrative the combines vigorous use of the language with creative varied use of rhyming form.
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Highly Commended - In Witness Protection
by Pippa Kay A perfectly constructed classical sonnet with understated emotional content. |
Highly Commended - Knots - A Triptych
by Scott-Patrick Mitchell A whole novel is condensed into this three piece prose poem with its refrain about knots. |
Commended & Winner of New England Award - A Country Phone Call
by Jann Karp
The strength of this poem is its simplicity, leaving the reader to imagine the horror behind the purposefully sparse details and the words of the phone calls.
by Jann Karp
The strength of this poem is its simplicity, leaving the reader to imagine the horror behind the purposefully sparse details and the words of the phone calls.
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Youth Judge - Judith Rossell
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Winner - The Lacquered Box (Fiction)
by Violette Amouroux
I enjoyed this entertaining story so much! Leader is a strong character with a a very determined attitude. Her relationship with her sister is very convincing. My favourite line is when Leader describes her mother, Gabriella, as being so elegant, she is able to taste the difference between and Australian and a New Zealand carrot, and her wardrobe is full of immaculate pieces of linen in neutral colours. I can picture her exactly! This is a really clever character description, and it makes the twist at the end of the story even more hilarious. Well done!
by Violette Amouroux
I enjoyed this entertaining story so much! Leader is a strong character with a a very determined attitude. Her relationship with her sister is very convincing. My favourite line is when Leader describes her mother, Gabriella, as being so elegant, she is able to taste the difference between and Australian and a New Zealand carrot, and her wardrobe is full of immaculate pieces of linen in neutral colours. I can picture her exactly! This is a really clever character description, and it makes the twist at the end of the story even more hilarious. Well done!
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Highly Commended - A Missing Ship (Fiction)
by Ben Delaney Really good world-building, lots of convincing details, and strong, believable dialogue. You've created interesting characters, real tension and a suspenseful atmosphere. Congratulations! |
Commended - The Last Digger Hunt (Non-Fiction)
by Isabelle Schubert Well done! Well-written and well-researched. A very clear account of the Eureka Stockade. |
Highly Commended - Leda and the Swan (Fiction)
by Grace Henderson
I enjoyed this story so much! It has everything! Absent parents eating halibut and caviar at the Baltic Sea, a 12-year-old evil genius hacker with a robot hand and eyes like pools of fire, a swan with a modified voice box, a robot servant, action, laughs, adventure! I especially enjoyed Leda's feisty character, and wise-cracking dialogue. I hope you enjoyed writing this as much as I enjoyed reading it. Well done!
by Grace Henderson
I enjoyed this story so much! It has everything! Absent parents eating halibut and caviar at the Baltic Sea, a 12-year-old evil genius hacker with a robot hand and eyes like pools of fire, a swan with a modified voice box, a robot servant, action, laughs, adventure! I especially enjoyed Leda's feisty character, and wise-cracking dialogue. I hope you enjoyed writing this as much as I enjoyed reading it. Well done!
Meet our 2023 Judges
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Ashley Kalagian Blunt is the author of Dark Mode,an internationally published psychological thriller. Her earlier books are How to Be Australian, a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge, collected fiction and essays, which was a finalist in the 2018 Carmel Bird Digital Literary Award.
Her writing appears in the Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, Griffith Review, Sydney Review of Books, Australian Book Review, Kill Your Darlings and more. Ashley co-hosts James and Ashley Stay at Home, a podcast about writing, creativity and health, and teaches creative writing. Originally from Canada, she has lived and worked in South Korea, Peru and Mexico. |
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Tony Maniaty is an award-winning journalist, reviewer and author with five books published – including ‘Shooting Balibo’, his account of covering the bloody 1975 conflict in Timor-Leste for ABC News.
His novel ‘Smyrna’ was shortlisted for The Miles Franklin Award, Australia’s premier literary prize. He is currently completing a novel, ‘Angels Look Away’, set in Turkey and Greece in the 1920s. In 2020 Tony photographed life in Paris during the Covid pandemic, and published a photobook ‘Our Hearts Are Still Open’. Tony has been the European Correspondent for SBS’s Dateline; Executive Producer of ABC’s ‘7.30 Report’; and Associate Professor of Creative Practice at the University of Technology Sydney. |
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Jamie studied for a degree in English at La Trobe University and subsequently worked as an editor, bookseller, journalist and literary critic. He began publishing poetry in the 1970s. His work has appeared in numerous literary magazines and he has published and edited multiple volumes of poetry.
His poems are inspired by stories about family, nature, and cities, capturing details that create a sense of landscapes that are at once familiar and alienating. Jamie's collections range across different eras; from convicts, to the challenges of drought and war, the divide between city and bush, to issues closer to home, such as love, barbecues, giraffes, and giant pumpkins, all with the goal of making Australians curious about who they are. |
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Judith Rossell is the multi-award-winning author-illustrator of the bestselling Stella Montgomery series (Withering-by-Sea, Wormwood Mire and Wakestone Hall).
Before beginning her career in children's books, Judith worked as a government scientist and also for a cotton-spinning company. She has written fifteen books and illustrated more than eighty. Her most recent books are Play with your Plate, a novelty board book for toddlers, and Pink! a picture book written by Margaret Wild. Her work has been published in the US and UK, and translated into more than twenty languages. Judith teaches at RMIT and the Australian Writers’ Centre, and lives in Melbourne. |