2020 Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing: Judges Reports
Fiction
With well over one hundred entries in the fiction section, the judging was shared between us. There was a wide variety of stories from darkest crimes and twisted perpetrators right through to humorous, light tales of crime and unexpected consequences. We each selected finalists from our allocated entries.
After reading all the finalists, we unanimously chose ‘True Blue’ as the winner. This fresh and original story has a vivid historical setting and wonderful characterisation. It is not often that crime stories are as genuinely touching as ‘True Blue’ but this story of a family struggling against the odds and their brush with serious crime holds both poignancy and warmth.
We also highly commend ‘Looking for Deidre’. The dark humour and wit of the elderly narrator, who observes the crime and its cover-up, and the motive and unrepentant actions of the perpetrator, made for an entertaining read, with a pointed twist at the end.
Two entries are commended: ‘Mine’ for its gripping portrayal of a woman’s obsessive mothering instinct resulting in unintentional murder; and ‘The Mesh’ for its rich, evocative prose and the imagery of the mesh of the forest soil receiving the murdered body.
After reading all the finalists, we unanimously chose ‘True Blue’ as the winner. This fresh and original story has a vivid historical setting and wonderful characterisation. It is not often that crime stories are as genuinely touching as ‘True Blue’ but this story of a family struggling against the odds and their brush with serious crime holds both poignancy and warmth.
We also highly commend ‘Looking for Deidre’. The dark humour and wit of the elderly narrator, who observes the crime and its cover-up, and the motive and unrepentant actions of the perpetrator, made for an entertaining read, with a pointed twist at the end.
Two entries are commended: ‘Mine’ for its gripping portrayal of a woman’s obsessive mothering instinct resulting in unintentional murder; and ‘The Mesh’ for its rich, evocative prose and the imagery of the mesh of the forest soil receiving the murdered body.
Poetry
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It has been such a pleasure to judge the poetry prize this year. There was a large jump in submissions from previous years, including quite a number of impressive poems.
I especially enjoyed the broad exploration and expression of ‘Crime’, and the pieces ranged from skin-tingling, heartbreaking, to very funny. Crimes of all sorts against women and themes resonant with the #metoo movement were strong in particular. Diversity of styles in poetry makes for challenging comparisons, but the final six poems stood out regardless and reflect a wide range of styles in any case, and I applaud each of you for your outstanding achievement. Among these, the winner The River was exceptional for its layered and exquisite crafting. A number of submissions read more like prose placed into a “poem shape”, but had very strong stories to tell. For all writing - but for poetry in particular - it is helpful to continue to consider how to strengthen the choice of verb and imagery, as well as form, to lift the story from the page and amplify its impact. I congratulate everyone who entered poems this year; each piece was a joy to read, and care and effort was evident in all of them. I wish everyone ongoing delight in your writing journeys. |
First Prize - The River, by Richenda Rudman
The River is an exceptionally moving poem and for me, was a clear winner. It tells of a childhood in the wake of a father’s unspecified crime, after which he is taken away by police, remaining an oppressive absence for the duration. The poem maintains an ominous tone from the outset, and exemplifies simple language used in very sophisticated ways, including alliteration, rhythm and beautifully curated images which leave the reader winded by their impact and ; “A winter Hills hoist/ turns thin towels like grey clouds/ and shudders the small shape of a baby’s sleepsuit”. The use of characterisation is masterful, especially in the crafting of the mother; “She would mime a widow, clean as her nursing shoes, quiet as a pause”. The narrative weaves mystery and revelation in delicate and tantalising ways, and the cumulative effect of this powerful poem is to leave the reader feeling the wounds of the child as a lasting ache. Highly Commended - endangeRED, by Margaret Ruckert endangeRed uses striking imagery and punchy phrases in a cleverly constructed narrative which evokes the latent dangers awaiting girls as they transition to women. The poet very effectively uses gradations of colour to build suspense leading up to the inevitable violence. The recitative style and ‘poem-on the-page’ shape of a tear drop strongly enhances the message. |
Non-Fiction
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The non-fiction entries in this year’s Prize covered a wide variety of crimes from around Australia in different points of its history. In our current circumstances where we aren’t travelling far from home, the stories seemed focused on the local, with stories spread as far as Tasmania, Brisbane, the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, Glen Innes, and Adelaide. Writers showed how crimes particular to a place are engrained in its geographical memory. Even popular tourist destinations may be stained by the unknowable motivations of crime. Stories asked the reader to consider the social impact of crime, covered changing investigative technologies, and contemplated ideas about the criminal as a monster, and redemption. The style of the stories varied greatly, from those written factually using interviews and quotes, to more creative and even modernist interpretations. It was a privilege to read them all.
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First Prize: The Late Guardian, by Roderick Makim
The Late Guardian, a story about the attempted pardon of convict, stood out because of both the content of the story and the way it is told. It falls on the creative end of the nonfiction spectrum, compellingly written in a diary format. Mortimer S. Harrow, a legal clerk bearing a royal pardon, begins his diary entries sceptical about Hugh Lowe, a convict who saved lives during a shipwreck. Mortimer’s experiences on the ship journey to Australia begin to change his perspective. The story made me ask questions about crime beyond the story: Can a criminal redeem themselves? What is the balance between committing a crime and an act of heroism? Can a self-serving act be considered truly heroic? Are those who perform heroic acts more deserving of mercy than other criminals? This story has both style and depth. |
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Highly Commended & Winner of The Emerging Authors Award: Monster in the Dark, The Murder of Betty Thomson Shanks, by Alyssa Mackay
Monster in the Dark is told in a procedural manner, scattered with striking images such as the strewn contents of a handbag and the newly painted fence. It follows the death of Betty Thomson Shanks in 1950s Brisbane by focusing compassionately on her family. The turning point in the story is how it uses this historical murder to ask wider questions of crimes against women, including those committed in recent years. Was the murderer the monster everyone imagined, or was Betty’s murder the first example of insidious risks to Australian women in public spaces? |
Commended: On the Desecration of William Lanne, by David Vernon
This story focuses not on a murder but on a crime that was not considered criminal by everyone at the time—the theft of William Lanne’s body parts by scientists and museums. It shines a light on an important and horrifying historical injustice against an Indigenous man. The author has completed an impressive amount of research, which has been integrated into the story to piece together the puzzle of Lanne’s final resting place. It is written with a captivating mixture of conjecture and fact. The story makes the reader consider how black Australian bodies are treated differently to white bodies, even after death. |
Youth
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There was a huge range of styles in the works submitted for the 2020 Youth Award, from a rollicking contemporary ballad about the heinous crime of stealing toilet paper from public conveniences (“Un-Australian Corona-crime”), to a modern fabulist tale of a dreamy afterlife following what the reader is led to assume was a murder in the woods (“The Dead Thing”).
"The Dead Thing” is a deserving winner. It’s amazingly well-crafted for a Youth entry, with beautifully-controlled elegiac mood and graceful prose. These quietly underline how different the situation must be for people — family, friends and killer/s — in the real world, outside the dead viewpoint character’s lyrical contentment. The Highly Commended entry, “Yellow Mist”, a murder mystery set in a bleak future New York, is an impressively slick blend of science fiction dystopia and crime noir. |
The Commended entries are:
“Un-Australian Corona-crime”: a highly topical poem which deserves thanks for making the reader laugh about COVID-19-related toilet paper theft. A serious crime indeed! “An Accidental Murder”: an ambitious story that manages to combine teen crushes, grave robbing, time travel via a magical talisman, and poisoning. “The Black Square”: a gruesome study of psychopathy in twins, with a well-sustained twist. Well done to all the entrants! |
Meet our Judges
Linda Nix
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Dr Linda Nix Linda has over 20 years of experience in the publishing industry across a wide range of functions, including commissioning, editing, production, marketing, and IT, with particular expertise in legal editing, book design and ebooks. Linda is an Accredited Editor of the Institute of Professional Editors (Australia - NSW Branch) and the current Chair of the IPEd Accreditation Board and Chair of the Standing Committee for Professional Development. She is also a Board Member of the New England Writers Centre.
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Bronwyn Parry
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Bronwyn Parry lives in the New England. She loves to travel, pursuing a fascination for places, people and their stories. Her first novel, As Darkness Falls won a prestigious Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award in 2007. Her second and third novels, Dark Country and Dead Heat were voted the Favourite Romantic Suspense Novel by the Australian Romance Readers Association (ARRA) in 2010 and 2013, and were both finalists in the Romance Writers of America RITA Awards and the Daphne du Maurier Award for Romantic Suspense. Her fourth novel, Darkening Skies was a finalist in the ARRA Awards in 2014. Bronwyn's fifth book, Storm Clouds, was shortlisted by ARRA for Favourite Romantic Suspense Novel of 2015 and shortlisted in the Davitt Awards for Best Crime Novel 2016.
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Catherine Wright's poems and creative nonfiction have been published in literary journals and anthologies in Australia and overseas and have won—or been short-listed—for a number of awards, including the Newcastle Poetry Prize.
She has been a recipient of a Varuna Residential Fellowship and has lived around the world but currently lives in New England, where she grew up. Catherine is also a Board Member of the New England Writers Centre. |
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Dr Lili Pâquet specialises in writing studies, rhetoric, and literary criticism, with particular interest in contemporary forms of authorship.
Her book, Crime Fiction from a Professional Eye, examines the crime novels of women who have previously worked in the criminal justice system as lawyers, forensic experts, and detectives. Her current research focuses on digital literatures, and interdisciplinary climate change rhetorics. |
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Jenny Blackford lives in Newcastle, Australia. Her poems and stories have appeared in Australian Poetry Journal, Westerly, Going Down Swinging, The Pedestal Magazine and more. Her poetry prizes include first place in the Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Poetry 2017, the Connemara Mussel Festival Poetry Competition 2016 and the Humorous Verse section of the Henry Lawson awards in 2014 and 2017. Pitt Street Poetry published an illustrated pamphlet of her cat poems, The Duties of a Cat, in 2013, and her first full-length book of poetry, The Loyalty of Chickens, in 2017. Her new collection from Pitt Street Poetry is The Alpaca Cantos. She won two prizes in the 2016 Sisters in Crime Australia Scarlet Stiletto awards for a murder mystery set in classical Delphi, with water nymphs. Eagle Books published her spidery, ghostly middle-grade mystery The Girl in the Mirror in October 2019, which won Best Children's Crime Novel in the 2020 Davitt Awards.
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