Sixteen short-listed writers were on tenterhooks as the winner and placegetters of the 2023 Furphy Literary Award were announced at Shepparton Art Museum in Victoria on Saturday night.
Congratulations to this year’s winner Jen Rewell for her uplifting and offbeat love story ‘Away to Me’. Jen was presented with a cheque for $15,000 at the ceremony. Along with the cash prize, Jen’s story will anchor the 2023 Furphy Anthology and she will be invited to a residency at La Trobe University to work on her writing.
Click here to read and enjoy the winning story of the 2023 Furphy Literary Award (available after 8.15PM on 29/7/23)!
It was another fantastic Furphy Literary Award. Over 600 entries were received, with the skilled judging panel of Anson Cameron, Margaret Hickey, John Harms, Stephanie Holt, Thornton McCamish and John Kerr carefully assessing the 71 stories on the Long List.
Furphy Literary Award director Sam Furphy said “the quality of the shortlisted and finalist entries was outstanding again this year and just shows what writing talent we have across the country. I would like to congratulate all writers who participated, in particular our winner, placegetters and shortlist who put forward such outstanding works.”
On behalf of the judges, Anson Cameron said this about Jen Rewell’s winning story ‘Away to Me’:
“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 recognized 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.”
2023 Furphy Literary Award winner Jen Rewell grew up in a small beachside town in Western Australia. She studied Media at university and then completed the Broadcasting course at the WA Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). She has worked as a journalist and copywriter.
In 2020 she returned to her early love of creative writing, winning a mentorship in the Emerging Writers Program run by the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA. She lives in Perth and is currently working on her first novel.
Second place ($3,000 plus publication in The Furphy Anthology 2023) was awarded to Eugenie Pusenjak for ‘The Drey’.
Judges’ comments: “In her 4900 words Ms Pusenjak keeps the telling of the story moving forward at a masterly, varied pace. She conjures up two generations of the protagonist’s family history, the first generation in a very few fast brush strokes indeed. The protagonist’s residential and social past does not take very many more strokes. All this is related in the ups and downs of the action. It’s the pace of a crime or spy thriller, stripped down to short story.
It will likely make you angry about housing today too. Very angry, I hope. Oh, you will find out what a drey is. Precisely when the protagonist does.”
And in third place ($2,000 plus publication in The Furphy Anthology 2023) was ‘The Lucky Country’ by Natalie Vella. Coincidentally, Natalie placed third in last year’s competition.
Judges’ comments: “This fierce, charming, and unsettling story tackles that classic theme in Australian writing: the migrant experience. It’s also about power, and corruption; about women’s solidarity and friendship, and women’s anger. But what makes it such a pleasure to read is the irresistible pull of the story itself. Vella’s Liele hooks the reader from the first lines: there’s no putting it down until we know what’s going to happen to her.”
Furphy Literary Award (FLA) Director Adam Furphy said, “We are always excited to see more great stories coming forward from writers around the country for this Award and can’t wait to share them via The Furphy Anthology 2023 which will be published in November.”
The 2023 Furphy Literary Award was announced at a ceremony at Shepparton Art Museum on Saturday 29th July. Shepparton, in northern Victoria, is the historic home of the Furphy family and the location of the ongoing Furphy manufacturing companies, established in 1864. Matt Dowling was MC for the evening and special guest speaker was last year’s FLA winner Cate Kennedy.
Congratulations to the 2023 Furphy Literary Award Winners & Shortlisted Writers
1st: Jen Rewell ‘Away to Me’
2nd: Eugenie Pusenjak ‘The Drey’
3rd: Natalie Vella ‘The Lucky Country’
Click here to see the 2023 Short List and Long List.
Junior and Youth Category Winners
Some 200 short stories and poems from young people in the Goulburn Valley have been judged for this year’s Furphy Literary Award Junior and Youth categories. Entries came from 22 schools in the region, as well as home-schooled students. Prize money of $1,800 will be distributed between the winners in four categories ($300 1st prize, $100 2nd Prize, $50 3rd Prize).
Junior and Youth winners will be revealed on Sunday 30th July at an event at Shepparton Library. Check the FLA website for these results.
About the Furphy Literary Award and The Furphy Anthology
Named in honour of Australian writer Joseph Furphy, the Furphy Literary Award celebrates Australian story telling in the short story format. Joseph Furphy was the author of a number of works written under the pen name Tom Collins – the most famous of which was Such is Life, published in 1903.
The Open category is for short stories of 5000 words or less, with total prize money of $20,000. Entrants must either reside in Australia or, if overseas, be citizens of Australia. The ongoing theme for the Award is ‘Australian Life in all its Diversity’.
After 28 years as a local competition, in 2020 the Furphy Literary Award was relaunched as a national award. Each year since then the annual Furphy Anthology is published with the top 16 stories of that year’s competition.
Enjoyed the winning story very much – the ending caught me by surprise. Congratulations Jen Rewell on winning this wonderful literary prize.
Really enjoyed the winner’s piece. Excellent work.
Such an interesting and very engaging story. Well done Jen.