This year’s prestigious Furphy Literary Award winners have been announced
IN the enchanting ambience of the Shepparton Art Museum last Saturday night, a conclave of 16 shortlisted writers eagerly awaited the announcement of this year’s winner and place getters for the prestigious Furphy Literary Award.
Jen Rewell emerged as this year’s victorious writer, receiving congratulations for her heartwarming and offbeat love story titled ‘Away to Me.’ Jen was presented with a generous $15K cheque during the ceremony, and her captivating story will become the centrepiece of the 2023 Furphy Anthology. Jen will also be invited to take-up a residency at La Trobe University to further nurture and share her craft.
On behalf of the judges, Anson Cameron said of Jen Rewell’s winning story, “It’s a love story, written with a light touch. It’s funny. The language is clear, and the author has a close knowledge of the rural world that Joseph Furphy would have recognised and enjoyed. It’s populated with rodeo clowns and decorated with CB radios atop kitchen fridges … a woman feeds her lover steamed lemon curd pudding. I salivated freely while reading it. But above all the story has a pigheaded refusal to conform to reality. Just when you think it might be headed for a clichéd gloom it ambushes you with fabulism and, perish the thought, happiness.”
Hailing from a small beachside town in Western Australia, Jen’s educational journey led her to study Media at university, and she later completed the Broadcasting course at the WA Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). With a background as a journalist and copywriter, she eventually rekindled her passion for creative writing in 2020. Winning a mentorship in the Emerging Writers Program by the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA, she now resides in Perth, diligently working on her debut novel.
With over 600 entrants and a long list of 71 exceptional short stories, second and third place getters were also commended on the night. Eugenie Pusenjak’s ‘The Drey’ was awarded second place while Natalie Vella’s ‘The Lucky Country’ came third. Receiving cash prizes of two and three thousand dollars respectively, the award-winning authors will also have their exceptional short stories published in this year’s Furphy Anthology.
