2023 NEW ENGLAND THUNDERBOLT PRIZE
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The New England Writers' Centre is once again privileged to announce the winners and commended entries for the 2023 New England Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing, with six prizes and commendations awarded to writers from all around Australia.
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Our thanks to all the writers who submitted their work and gratitude to our wonderful judges who had the unenviable challenge of finding winners from among so many entries.
And a HUGE thank you to our sponsors, who with their support, make it possible for the NEWC to continue to run this nationally recognised literary competition.
And a HUGE thank you to our sponsors, who with their support, make it possible for the NEWC to continue to run this nationally recognised literary competition.
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Click on the links to find out more about this year's winning authors, read their submissions and the judges' reports and bios. Enjoy!
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Fiction
Non-Fiction
Poetry
All entries were judged anonymously and the New England Award and Emerging Author Awards were chosen based on final commendations across all categories.
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The New England Award
Emerging Author Award (Over 18 years)
"They Came to Watch Mrs Monty" (Non-fiction) by Emma Andrews
Proudly sponsored by Armidale Central Rotary 
Youth Award (Under 18 years)
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COMMENDATIONSNon-Fiction
"Black and Blue" by Tess Merlin "They Came to Watch Mrs Monty" by Emma Andrews (Also winner of the Emerging Author Award) |
Poetry
"A Country Phone Call" by Jann Karp (Also winner of The New England Award) "In Witness Protection" by Pippa Kay "Knots - A Triptych" by Scott-Patrick Mitchell |
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Janice Shaw is an academic who has a PhD in literature. She has previously published in the area of textual criticism with a special focus on Australian crime stories, but she is now concentrating on writing fiction.
She has been shortlisted for her stories in the Scarlet Stiletto Awards of 2020 and 2021, including winning the 2021 HQ Fiction prize for best thriller. Janice lives in the Hunter Valley with her husband and two sons. |
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David Vernon is a writer, editor and publisher. In 2007 he won the non-fiction section of the ACT Writing and Publishing Awards with his book “Men at Birth.”
A keen short story writer his works have appeared in several anthologies and his non-fiction works on the ABC Website Unleashed, Sunday Life Magazine, The Australian Skeptic and The Canberra Times. He has won several short story competitions, including the Thunderbolt Prize for non-fiction in 2019, 2021 and 2022. In 2021 he released his first full length Australian history book, A Good Yarn. He is currently working on a new history book. |
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Crime writing gives Roger the opportunity to draw upon the years when he ‘met the fools that a young fool meets’ (Jackson Browne) and dark aspects of various occupations, including sailor, soldier, marketer, barrister and TAFE teacher. Sea Stitch was inspired by a voyage from Fiji to New Zealand in a sinking trimaran with a half-crazy skipper during hurricane season.
Roger writes poetry, fiction, textbooks, nonfiction, monologues and plays (co-written with James Balian). His poetry prizes include the Bruce Dawe, WB Yeats, Banjo Paterson Contemporary, Lane Cove and Woorilla awards, as well as the 2019 Thunderbolt prize. |
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Jann lives in Rocky River, New England. She has a background in policing, criminology, social sciences and writes poetry to include in her non-fiction work. Her web page www.jannkarp.com contains further writing and poetry that has been published.
She is currently working on a book called "The Trip" where the central theme is about remote Australia, and moving forward. |
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Emma is an English teacher, currently living in regional Victoria. From the UK originally, she moved out to Australia in 2011.
Since a young age, she has loved reading – her first Saturday job was at her local library, shelving books and borrowing excessive quantities of them each week. She studied English and American Literature at Warwick University and later worked in London for a Writer’s Agency and in the not-for-profit sector. On maternity leave this year, she has enjoyed using any quiet moments to write short pieces of fiction and non-fiction. |
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Meet Violette Amouroux, a 10-year-old living in Newcastle, NSW. Born in Paris, she moved with her family to Australia at the age of eight. She devours books of all genres with insatiable curiosity and when she's not immersed in pages of words, her interests are diverse.
You can find her enjoying basketball, surfing, drama, and rock climbing while hanging out with her friends and dog. This is her first entry in a writing competition and she has plenty of ideas for more stories. |