notJack is grateful to report that the judging process for the 2016 short list has concluded.
The Advisory Panel members were provided with seven equally ranked entries, yet no single entry received a double vote from the members. A decision on a particular entry could not be equitably reached, and so the prize will not be awarded for the 2016 round. The decision not to award the prize rests solely with the Panel. The money itself will be held over for the 2017 prize round.
While this process has taken considerable time to resolve, this reflects a genuine attempt to reconcile the various recommendations – even while that attempt ultimately proved not feasible.
* * *
Due acknowledgements and congratulations go to the following seven entries (in random order) for making the 2016 short list:
Double in Ourselves (Stephen Williams)
Lighthouse (Cecilia Morris)
My Hands (Taylor-Jayne Wilkshire)
The Magpie Game (Wayne Marshall)
Getting It, Some Others, They (Catherine Wright)
* * *
From the sizeable collection of poems, plays, dialogues, short stories, vignettes, fictocriticism, narrative discursive and reflective essays, notJack is pleased to announce the long-list for the 2016 Open and Baringhup categories, and congratulates the following entrants:
Rachel Cameron Endless Summer
Virginia O’Keeffe A Summer Tale
Jared Chinnery Stalag 324
John McGlade Daffodils
Taylor-Jayne Wilkshire My Hands, For Expectations
Richard James Allen Central Dreaming
Stephen Williams Double in Ourselves
Karen Lethlean Assistance Dog
Julie Twohig The Bright Star
Cecilia Morris Don’t Go Home, Lighthouse
Judith Bridge Queen of the Park
Lisa Lang Running out of Light
Wayne Marshall The Magpie Game
Myfanwy Appleton Alice
Andrea Baldwin Intertidal
Christine Kuchowsky When You Open Your Eyes
Dougal Patey Fate
Catherine Wright They, Design, The Prawn, The Amazign, Streets of Fes, Getting It, Some Others
Note that the Baringhup category was read as part of the Open category due to low entry numbers, and all Baringhup long-listed entrants are accordingly eligible for the cash prize.
Judging Update
Judging is underway.
One outstanding entrant is selected from the long list for the $5000 cash prize. A result will be posted no sooner than Janaury 31st 2017, and as best suits our wonder-folk volunteer judges.
As is traditional, notJack’s judges are representative of all stages and angles of the writing process, providing a rounded assessment in selecting a single entry of outstanding quality.
Commercial-Industry Representative
Brown & Bunting Booksellers is located at 237 High Street Northcote, and specializes in literature and children’s publications. This bookseller’s heartfelt belief in paper and ink (and bricks and mortar!) is the foundation on which the business is based. Within this store, the book is loved and respected as a tactile object, a piece of art and as an individual piece of history that is accessible to all.
Literary Agent Representative
Angus Tonkin is a freelance writer, editor and proofreader, and hails from Creswick, Victoria. He reviews regularly for Film Blerg, contributes to Australian Book Review, The Roar sports journalism, and Text Publishing blogging. He has held editorial positions for Emerge Inc journal, Executive Media and Macau Daily Times, in addition to interning at Affirm Press and Text Publishing. Tonkin holds a B.A in Linguistics, Media and Communications, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Editing and Communications), from the University of Melbourne.
Independent Author Representative
Eli Glasman’s debut novel, The Boy’s Own Manual to Being a Proper Jew (Sleepers Publishing), presents the life of a homosexual boy in the Melbourne orthodox Jewish community. Glasman began writing at an early age and continued the practice throughout his schooling. At seventeen, he decided that orthodox Jewish life wasn’t for him, and completed a B.A with Honours in creative writing at the University of Melbourne. Glasman combines writing with teaching through Writers Victoria, where he focuses on YA fiction and crafting authentic character. His short fiction has appeared in Voiceworks and Sleepers Almanac. In 2013 he was placed second in the Josephine Ulrick short story competition.
