History with a twist wins writing prize
Bass Coast writer Linda Cuttriss won the 2020 Bass Coast Prize for Non-Fiction with At Screw Creek – a part true detective story, part local history, part family history.
The judges commented the submission was local history at its best – not just a succession of dates and events but an engaging story with a narrative drive and a search for understanding.
Second prize went to Drouin writer Jeannie Haughton for Who Speaks for the Trees and Creeks? Part memoir, part polemic, the judges described it as a powerful piece of writing which concludes with an urgent call to action and a plea not to give in to despair. The piece was inspired by the removal of an avenue of trees in Drouin.
Equal third prize went to Lucinda Bain of Eltham for Paper Thin and Max Hayward of North Melbourne for Sometimes Nothing Can Happen but Fire.
There were also four Highly Commended awards: Karen Bateman, of Inverloch for No Place Like Home; Jillian Durance, of Moyarra, for Nothing We Liked Better; Lauren Burns, of Inverloch, for Cape Connection; and Fiona Power, of Glen Iris, for On the Shore of the Wide World.
The Bass Coast Prize for Non-Fiction is one of the richest non-fiction prizes in Australia, with $10,000 in prize money. This year’s competition was brought forward to provide an outlet for housebound writers during the COVID lockdowns.
Sponsor Phyllis Papps, who established the prize to encourage Gippsland writers, said she was thrilled with the number of entries and the quality of the writing. In only its second year, the competition drew 44 entries from Bass Coast, Baw Baw, La Trobe, East Gippsland, and South Gippsland.
Judges Geoff Ellis, Anne Heath Mennell and Catherine Watson were impressed by the standard of entries and the breadth of topics. The winners tackled some weighty topics such as climate change, bush fires, and the COVID 19 crisis in an engaging manner.
With the prize now well established on the local writing scene, the team behind the prize will seek sponsorship and hope to run it again in 2021. The winning entries will be published in the Bass Coast Post at www.basscoastpost.com.