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Award for emerging children’s authors

Emerging Authors Story Opportunity 2019

We are delighted to offer this one-off opportunity for emerging children’s authors. The Library continues to expand its engagement with children and young people by developing stories around its collections. 

 The State Library of NSW invites you to submit a manuscript for a children’s book based upon one of the following:

  • A manuscript of a children’s picture book about the State Library of NSW, its buildings or a collection item/items.
  • A manuscript of a children’s picture book about Ethel Turner, the author most famously of Seven little Australians.

This opportunity is kindly supported by the State Library Foundation and The Society of Woman Writers NSW Inc.

Award winners announced  
 

The State Library of NSW has announced the winners of its Emerging Author’s Awards, with a total of $5000 presented. 

This one-off opportunity for new and emerging authors is part of the State Library’s ongoing commitment to engaging children and young people with stories about its collection. 

The Library’s Emerging Authors Awards is supported by the State Library Foundation and The Society of Women Writers NSW Inc, with each winner receiving a $2,500 prize. 

The prize for the first category — a manuscript of a children’s picture book about the State Library of NSW, its buildings or a collection item/items — has been awarded to Victoria Mackinlay.   

The judges commended Victoria’s work for its well-researched and engaging showcase of State Library collection items, and interesting and thorough introduction to the Library for young children. 

The prize for the second category — a manuscript of a children’s picture book about Ethel Turner, the author of  Seven Little Australians — has been awarded to Abbey Lane.   

Abbey’s work was selected for its interesting structure and the lovely reference to Ethel Turner and her head ‘full of ideas’. Award judge Paul Macdonald noted that he saw great potential in this work. 
 

The judging panel comprised: 

Richard Neville, Mitchell Librarian and Director, Engagement at the State Library of NSW.   

Libby Hathorn, Australian award-winning Australian author and poet of more than 80 books for children and young people.   

Paul Macdonald, owner of The Children’s Bookshop Speakers Agency, former teacher and recipient of awards for services to children’s literacy. 

Terms and conditions

For the purpose of the Emerging Authors Story Opportunity 2019, an 'emerging author' is defined as

  •  an author who is in the early stage of their career, who may have a small body of published work (no more than 3 stories published in a book, magazine or journal) and who has strong evidence of practise

Opportunity / prize

The opportunity consists of 2 prizes:

  1. A manuscript of a children’s picture book about the State Library of NSW, its buildings or a collection item/items (which the Library may publish subject to a satisfactory agreement between the State Library and the author).
  2. A manuscript of a children’s picture book about Ethel Turner (which the Library may publish subject to a satisfactory agreement between the State Library and the author.

The prize consists of a $2,500 payment for each of the successful unpublished manuscripts.

Eligibility criteria

  • Applicants must be residents of NSW.
  • Submission must be written in English.
  • Entries must be a manuscript for a children’s picture book (illustrations are not required at this stage, and will be separately commissioned).
  • Work must be submitted online in Microsoft Word; hard copy submissions will not be accepted.
  • The work must not be the subject of current discussion or negotiations with a publisher.
  • The copyright in the work is retained by the winning author.   
  • The decision of the panel is final, and no correspondence will be entered into either during or after the selection process.
  • State Library of NSW staff and Library Council of NSW members are not eligible to submit entries. 
  • Entrants will receive a confirmation of successful entry through the following email only - learning.library@sl.nsw.gov.au    

Judging criteria

Entries will be judged on originality of idea, literary and artistic merit, success with engaging with the Library and its collections, and potential for inclusion in the Library’s collections as well as publication potential.

Key dates

Entries open: 9 am 30 September, 2019
Close: 5 pm 31 January, 2020