Presented by Text Publishing and Writing NSW

Announcing the winner of the inaugural Boundless Indigenous Writer’s Mentorship, Allanah Hunt.

Allanah Hunt has been awarded the inaugural Boundless mentorship for her submission Forever and Ever, the story of a young woman reckoning with her unplanned pregnancy and the hidden secrets of her dysfunctional family.

Allanah says, “I am very excited to have been given this amazing opportunity. It has been my dream for the longest time to be a professional writer and I am so grateful this mentorship is helping me realise that dream.”

The judges were impressed by the quality and range of the manuscripts submitted, and also shortlisted the following titles:

Finding Billy Brown by Edoardo Crismani (SA)
Spellsinger by Alexander Habliay (NSW)
Fire Country by Victor Steffensen (QLD)

The mentorship is awarded to an unpublished Indigenous writer who has made substantial progress on a fiction or non-fiction writing project. The purpose of the program is to support the writer as they develop their manuscript and seek publication.

Allanah will embark on a year-long mentorship with Indigenous writer Tara June Winch, who will provide feedback on the work in progress and general advice on writing and developing a career. Allanah will also receive editorial feedback from Text Publishing and access to Writing NSW’s professional development services. Of Forever and Ever, Tara says: “I was impressed by the lyricism of Allanah’s manuscript… I’m looking forward to being a sounding board [for her] ideas, guiding her through the business of being a writer and helping her shape her voice into a manuscript ready for publication.”

At the end of the 12-month mentorship, both Tara and Allanah will be sponsored to attend Boundless, a festival for diverse writers to be held in Sydney in 2019.