Text Publishing and Writing NSW announce the winner of the 2020 Mentorship!
Author John Morrissey has been awarded the 2020 Boundless Mentorship
for his submission The Dig, a riotous, page-turning short story collection
featuring ghost stories, family lore and satire. Set in an archaeological dig—in the past, present, future— these stories powerfully and playfully skewer race, identity and class, with Aboriginal characters at its heart, encapsulating a nation fractured through time.
John Morrissey:
‘Receiving the Boundless Mentorship has invigorated my writing practice. I look forward to benefiting from the support and encouragement of an Aboriginal mentor. I hope to end the mentorship as a more mature, confident, and skilled writer.‘
The mentorship is awarded annually to an unpublished Indigenous writer who has made substantial progress on a work of fiction or non-fiction. The intention of the program is to support the writer to develop their manuscript and to facilitate a pathway to publication.
John will embark on his mentorship with two-time Miles Franklin Literary Award-winning Noongar writer Kim Scott, and will also receive editorial feedback from Text Publishing and access to Writing NSW’s professional development services.
Indigenous writer and Boundless judge Tara June Winch says:
‘This year we had the opportunity to read powerful, inspired and stirring work by new Indigenous writers. Manuscripts that were timely and evocative, written with a sense of searching for oneself, and trying to hold onto culture and family and the natural world in a time of upheaval. I congratulate all who were brave enough to enter the prize, and the shortlisted authors as well as this year’s deserving and thrilling winner.’
Writing NSW acknowledges the First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN) for their support of this program.
See more information about the Boundless Indigenous Writer’s Mentorship.
Read about 2018 Mentorship recipient Allanah Hunt.
For enquiries, contact us here.
Find out more about Text Publishing.
Past media information: Boundless Indigenous Writer’s Mentorship Press Release