GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

GRAND PRIZE – UNPUBLISHED BOOK

The Coffee Lovers, Memoirs of a Communist Princess

– Ilinda Stefanova Brunner

Australia

Ilinda was born in Bulgaria, where she published her first books of poetry and short stories. Some won national awards and were translated and published in Ukraine, Germany, India, and Poland. ‘Parcels’ told the story of her family sending rare parcels to an uncle in the Belеne forced labour camp and another locked up in the Sofia prison for being a jazz musician – in communist Bulgaria jazz was banned and labelled ‘American propaganda.’ Her acclaimed play The Importance of Being Desirable, staged in Sofia and Vienna, was described by the English playwright Sir Roland Harwood as “… an accomplished piece of work… a dialogue snappy but never crass, and often poetic.” After moving to Australia, Ilinda won the HarperCollins/Varuna Fellowship for Manuscript Development for her Memoirs of the Red Berry Princess, which is about a traumatic childhood in a communist country. She published poetry in literary magazines and anthologies. Her short story Giving a Bath to His Mitera, published in the prestigious anthology One Story Many Brisbanes 5, drew wide media attention. Ginninderra Press published her poetry book Knockturnal Animal. She lives in Brisbane, Australia.

GRAND PRIZE - PUBLISHED BOOK

Igloo – Jennifer Burkinshaw

United Kingdom

Jennifer Burkinkshaw read English and Classics at Cambridge university before becoming an English and Drama teacher for twenty years in the UK and in Paris.  She started the endless journey of fiction writing via an MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.  Now living in Yorkshire, Jennifer is the author of two published young adult novels, Igloo, and the recently-released Happiness Seeker. As well as travel, she enjoys reading, of course, theatre and her growing family.