Allen and Unwin announce winner of ‘The Australian’/Vogel’s Literary Award 2020

Are you searching for something to focus on? Tasmanian author Kate Kruimink explained that was what she was doing when she decided to write and enter her manuscript into The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award 2020. A great creative focus indeed, as Allen and Unwin have announced Kate’s A Treacherous Country the winner of the prestigious award for 2020. 

The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of 35 has launched the careers of novelists such as Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Danielle Wood, Gillian Mears, Andrew McGahan and Rohan Wilson. 

According to the press release, the award’s 2020 judges were unanimous with their praise for Kate’s authentic, original and playful novel about loyalty, wisdom and the freedom: 

“Witty, warm, lively and delightful. It has an assured voice that rose out of the pages rich, complete and true.” – Tegan Bennett Daylight, award-winning author of Six Bedrooms.

“Dialogue and interplay are fantastic. The characters and storyline completely ‘hooked; me. Loved the ending.” – Megan O’Brien, bookseller. 

In the press release, Kate said she had no concrete thought of what would happen to her submission:

“For me, at that time, the value in entering was in the structure and the deadline: it helped motivate me to complete something. To actually win is helping me articulate to myself what I would really like to do with my career, and it’s given me permission to articulate it to others, too.  

“It’s astonishingly wonderful to have my book published, and it’s just as wonderful to be able to say, ‘Yes, this is something I’ve wanted to do’.” 

Congratulations Kate! And if you want to be Australia’s next greatest storyteller but need a little guidance fleshing out your story, have a look at our creative writing course path course. It might be your name Allen and Unwin are announcing next year.