Fantastic news for Australian Writers’ Centre’s very own Writing Picture Books presenter Judith Rossell. At an event held in Sydney last night, her book Withering-By-Sea (an illustrated junior novel) was announced as the Indie Book of the Year Children’s & YA winner!
The Indie Book Awards are named for the 170+ Independent Australian booksellers who each year nominate their favourite books. These picks determine the shortlist in four categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Debut fiction, and Children’s & YA – with a winner announced in each.
Judith’s winning book, Withering-by-Sea, is the first in her Stella Montgomery Intrigue series, set in Victorian England and illustrated throughout. It has already wowed readers since its launch, and the love has continued here.
With previous fiction winners including Tim Winton and Richard Flanagan (for last year’s Man Booker Prize winner), Judith is in mighty fine company. Congratulations to Judith and all Indie 2015 winners!
Want to find out more about the fabulous Judith? You can listen to our interview with her in episode 51 of our podcast So you want to be a writer, read an interview about her book Withering-by-Sea on our blog, or even learn how to write picture books with her!
For more information on the Indie Awards, check out their official site.