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Women's Writers Awards Celebrate Australian Authors Libby Hathorn, Susanne Gervay, Jane Messer, Jude Chapman

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Society of Women Writers Giving Woman a Voice announce Award Winners for Poetry, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children

Women’s Writers Awards Celebrate Australian Authors Libby Hathorn, Susanne Gervay, Jane Messer, Jude Chapman

Celebrating women writers for more than 100 years, the Society of Women’s Writers continue to bring powerful and relevant books of women and children to the forefront, Giving Women A Voice. The Award winners proudly announced are:-

Libby Hathorn. Poetry. ‘through a glass darkly is a rich and moving novel that takes us on a journey through Evie’s life in poems that transition us from the past into the present moment where all memories congeal.’ Magdalena Bell, Compulsive Reader

Susanne Gervay. Children’s Books.  ‘Sweet as a jalebi and heartwarming as apple pie, Parrot Palace is a moving and exciting story of childhood, friendship, neighbourliness and forgiveness. Growing up, some of my best friends were books, and how I wish I’d had a friend and a book like this, reflecting the true, warm, beating heart of Australian multicultural diversity. Hari and his friends will stay with you long after you’ve left Parrot Palace.’ Sunil Badami critic, broadcaster, ABC personality.

 

Jane Messer. Non-Fiction. ‘Wise, poignant and beautiful, Raven Mother builds an arch over the here-and-now to connect an individual life with a family and communal past. This is a book that matters. It can only enrich our understanding of the present.’ — Malcolm Knox Winner Miles Franklin Literary Award, distinguished journalist and commentator.

Jude Chapman. Fiction. ‘The Body at Bones is a ripping read ...  The characters intertwine in a complex web of greed and deceit - which, coincidentally, find echoes in the current investigation into the influence of a fugitive property developer on NSW politics, (minus the murders) …Wrapped in a satisfying conclusion of redemption for the central character.’ Gwen Wilson, author.

To a packed audience in the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, the home of the Society of Women Writers, the award winners were announced on 11^th November. The short list included significant authors Sue Wolfe with her iconic award winning  Leaning Towards Infinity; Anne Casey Winner New York City Big Book Award 2026 for Seang (Hungering); Karen Hendricks innovative children’s picture book working with the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple;  Roslyn McFarland, finalist in Eyelands International Book Awards; Pip Griffin multi award winning poet among others.

The Society of Women Writers was founded more than one hundred years ago in 1925. The founders of the Society of Women Writers in 1925 were activists for women and children. Ethel Turner, who helped shape Australian children's literature for generations is one of the founders of the Society of Women’s Writers.

‘None of the seven is really good, for the excellent reason that Australian children never are.’ ― Ethel Turner, Seven Little Australians

Ethel Turner ‘s irreverent humour in Seven Little Australian has kept this classic children’s novel in print for more than one hundred years.. The State Library of New South Wales, holds Ethel Turner's original manuscript, states that the novel became Australia's first internationally successful children's classic and has been continuously in print since its publication in 1894. The other founders of this vibrant women’s society were Florence Baverstock  a pioneer woman journalist; Dame Mary Gilmore renowned for her poem I Love A Sunburnt Country, a poet and champion of children and women; Florence Taylor, Australia’s first woman architect, engineer, aviator, working for the rights of women and children. The Society through the Alice Award recognises the distinguished and long term contribution of literature by women including Eleanor Dark, Judith Wright, Mary Durack, Kylie Tennant, Ruth Park, Nancy Cato, Nance Donkin, Elizabeth Jolley, Kate Grenville, Rosemary Dobson, Christobel Mattingley, Libby Hathorn. The majority of these authors wrote for children and adults, advocating for equal rights and a just society.

It is fitting that the Society of Women Writers has been provided a historic and permanent home in the Mitchell Library, The New South Wales State Library and celebrates its role. At the award ceremony, the voices of the founders are embodied in Giving Women A Voice.

… there was no crime like the crime of stagnation - unproductiveness. With a creative trinity, mind, body and spirit, one must yield something back to the generous earth. Eleanor Dark

We are hungry for more; if we do not consciously pursue the More, we create less for ourselves and make it more difficult to experience more in life. Judith Wright

The human heart is a dark forest.  Ruth Park.

 

 

https://womenwritersnsw.org/membership/renew-your-membership

(Photograph Susanne Gervay and Libby Hathorn, awards)

Media Contacts

Liz Shaw - [email protected] 

Jane Carrick and Julie Thorndyke - [email protected]

Susanne – [email protected]; 0413 050 922

 

 

 

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Media Contacts

Liz Shaw - [email protected] 

Jane Carrick and Julie Thorndyke - [email protected]

Susanne – [email protected];

0413 050 922