MARION Book Awards explained

The MARION Book Awards, formerly the ACT Writing and Publishing Awards, are an Australian literary award presented by MARION (formerly ACT Writers Centre). The awards comprise several categories, and are awarded for the best books in the categories of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and children's literature written in the Canberra region, Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

History

In 1995 as the ACT Writers Centre was established to support writers in the ACT.^[1]

The inaugural ACT Writing and Publishing Awards were awarded in 2004, with the winners in each category receiving a prize.^[2]

The centre was renamed MARION in 2022,^[1] and the awards renamed the MARION Book Awards.^[3]

Categories

The Anne Edgeworth Fellowship is for an emerging ACT region writer, and commemorates Anne Edgeworth (also known as Anne Godfrey-Smith).^[4]

The June Shenfield Poetry Award is for an emerging Australian poet, and is awarded in collaboration with Demos Journal.^[5]

The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award is for an emerging ACT region writer. It was established to commemorate the late short story writer Graber-McInnis, who lived in Canberra.^[6]

The Michael Thwaites Poetry Award was previously known as the ACT Writers Centre Poetry Award.^[7]

The Publishing awards span four categories of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children's books.^[8]

List of winners

2004

• Non-fiction – Huts in the Victorian Alps by Klaus Hueneke
• Fiction – You by Narelle Wickham
• Poetry – Indigo Book of Modern Australian Sonnets by Geoff Page^[9]

^[10]

2005

• Non-fiction – Days of Innocents edited by Hilary Trotter
• Fiction – Trouble in the Garden by Peter Frankis
• Poetry – Unfinished Journey by Michael Thwaites
• Children's – The Year of the Mean Queen by Graeme Hume and Caroline Ambrus

2006

• Non-fiction – Unlocking History's Secrets by Graeme Barrow & "Australian Speculative Fiction: A Genre Overview" By Donna Maree Hanson
• Fiction – The Grinding House by Kaaron Warren
• Poetry – Southbound by Michael Byrne
• Children's – Not Awarded ^[2]

2007

• Non-fiction – Men at Birth by David Vernon
• Fiction – Ghosts in the Helmet Trees by Rory Steele
• Poetry – Verbal Medicine by Tim Metcalf
• Children's – Secrets by Stephen Matthews^[11]

2008

• Non-fiction – Rainbow by Jennifer Horsfield
• Fiction – Not a Flotation Device by Peter Frankis
• Poetry – Migrant writer on a bus, thinking of Kundera by Danijela Kambaskovic-Sawers (unpublished poem by an ACT writer) Andy Jackson (unpublished poem by an Australian writer)
• Children's –

2009

• Non-fiction – The Campbell Community by Alan Foskett
• Fiction – Smoke and mirrors by Kel Robertson
• Poetry – Sleeping Alone by Michael Thorley
• Children's – Butterscotch: Family and Friends by William Nevin Morison & Rebecca Dempsey
• Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award – Basant by Maryanne Khan^[12]

2010

• Non-fiction – Capital Sailing: The history of the Canberra Yacht Club 1959–2009 by Alan Foskett
• Fiction – Hornet Bank by Gordon Reid
• Poetry – Before Afterwards by Leon Trainor
• Children's – (not awarded)
• Short story – "Acts of Kindness" by Jennifer Shapcott

2011

• • • • Non-fiction – Who Lied? The Ly-ee-moon Disaster and a Question of Truth by Graeme Barrow Fiction – Dead Sea Fruit by Kaaron Warren Poetry – A Man of Emails by Michael Byrne Children's – (not awarded)
• Short story – The Day for Travelling by Robyn Cadwallader

^[13]

2012

• Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award 2012
  • Winner: Paper Cranes by Rachael Rippon
  • Highly Commended: Fiona Hamer
• Michael Thwaites Poetry Award 2012
  • Winner: Isi Unikowski
  • Highly Commended: Monica Carroll
• Children's Book category
  • Winner: Tracey Hawkins
• Nonfiction Book category
  • Winner: Irma Gold
  • Highly Commended: Ann Villiers
  • Highly Commended: Alan Foskett
• Fiction Book Category
  • Winner: Nigel Featherstone
  • Highly Commended: Irma Gold
  • Highly Commended: Elizabeth Egan
• Poetry Book Category
  • Winner: Michael Byrne
• Z4 Award for book reviews
  • Winner: Colin Steele

2013

• Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award 2013
  • Winner: This Square Called a Ring by Monica Carroll
  • Highly Commended:
    • Breath by Michelle Brock
    • Feather-light by Claire Delahunty
• Michael Thwaites Poetry Award 2013
  • Winner: Ode to a Toothbrush by Penny O'Hara
  • Highly Commended:
    • After Nights by Claire Delahunty
    • An Untimely Death by Rebecca Fleming
• Nonfiction Book Category
  • Winner: Canberry Tales: An Informal History (Arcadia) by G.A. Mawer
  • Highly Commended: Leaving the Rest Behind: An Immigrant’s Story by Ann Nugent
• Fiction Book Category
  • Winner: Through Splintered Walls (Twelfth Planet Press) by Kaaron Warren
  • Highly Commended:
    • I’m Ready Now (Blemish Books) by Nigel Featherstone
    • Provocation (Arcadia) by Donald McMaster
• Poetry Book Category
  • Winner: First…Then… (Ginninderra Press) by Melinda Smith
  • Highly Commended:
    • The Love Procession (Ginninderra Press) by Suzanne Edgar
    • In Country (Bat Trang Road Press) by Leon Trainor
• Children's Book Category
  • Co-winner: Sarah’s Song (A Tiny Publication) by Tanya Davies
  • Co-winner: My Aunt Ate a Plate (Starry Night Publishing) by Maree Teychenne^[14]
• Z4 Award for book reviews
  • Winner: Duncan Driver's review of Martin Amis's novel Lionel Asbo: State of England
• Anne Edgeworth Fellowship for Young ACT Writers
  • Brian Obiri-Asare to produce his play In Between the Solitude of Sunburnt Islands

^[15]

2014

• Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award 2014
  • Winner: ‘A White Woman in Ōjin’ by Ashley Thomson
  • Highly Commended:
    • ‘Hooking In by Christine Kearney
    • ‘The Loose Thread and the Sterile Needles’ by Cara Lennon
    • ‘The Garden House’ by Alison O’Hara
• Michael Thwaites Poetry Award 2014
  • Winner: ‘Stilettos’ by Robyn Lance
  • Highly Commended:
    • ‘Calling me in’ by Susan McGrath
    • ‘Jack and Jill’ by Gregory A Gould
    • ‘Implausible Birds’ by Kavya Robinson
• Nonfiction Book Category
  • Winner: 18 Days – Al Jazeera English and the Egyptian Revolution (Editia) by Scott Bridges
  • Highly Commended:
    • Meat Pies and Mumbling Blokes – A Canberra Memoir (Ginninderra Press) by Margitta Acker
    • Australian Eagles: Australians in the Battle of Britain (Barrallier Books) by Kristen Alexander
• Fiction Book Category
  • Winner: The Happiness Jar (Storytorch Press) by Samantha Tidy
  • Highly Commended: Round and Round by Jordan Morris
• Poetry Book Category
  • Winner: The Petrov Poems (Pitt Street Poetry) by Lesley Lebkowicz
  • Highly Commended:
    • Improving the News (Pitt Street Poetry) by Geoff Page
    • Drag down to unlock or place an emergency call (Pitt Street Poetry) by Melinda Smith
    • Extravagance (Ginninderra Press) by Irene Wilkie
• Children's Book Category
  • Winner: An Aussie Year (Exisle Publishing) by Tania McCartney
  • Highly Commended:
    • The Very Sad Fish-lady by Joy McDonald
    • A Lion, a Whale and a Flea by Maree Teychenne
• Anne Edgeworth Fellowship for Young ACT Writers
  • Winners: Zoya Patel and Lisa Fuller

^[16]

2015

• Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award^[17] 2015
  • Winner: Torvald's Year by C.H. Pearce
  • Highly Commended: Frozen Stiff by Elizabeth Egan
  • Highly Commended: Now and Then by Jennifer Hand
• Michael Thwaites Poetry Award 2015
  • Winner: Ode to a Papermate Inkjoy 100 by Penny O'Hara
  • Highly Commended: Winter evening on the Monaro by Laurence Anderson
  • Highly Commended: Action (Bus Route 2) by Sarah Rice
  • Highly Commended: Memorabilia by Michelle Brock
• Z4 Review Writing Award 2015
  • Winner: Excavate by Shu-Ling Chua
• Publishing Awards: Fiction Category
  • Winner: Uncle Adolf by Craig Cormick
  • Highly Commended: Capital Yarns by Sean Costello
• Publishing Awards: Nonfiction Category
  • Winner: Australia's Few and the Battle of Britain by Kristen Alexander
  • Highly Commended: The Pearl King by Robert Lehane
• Publishing Awards: Children's Fiction Category
  • Winner: Midnight Burial by Pauline Deeves
  • Highly Commended: Tottie and Dot by Tania McCartney
• Publishing Awards: Poetry Category
  • Winner: Fire in the Afternoon by John Stokes
  • Highly Commended: The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry by P. S. Cottier and Tim Jones
• Anne Edgeworth Fellowship for Young Writers^[18]
  • Winner: Louis Klee

^[19]

2016

• Fiction
  • Winner: Cranky Ladies of History edited by Tansy Rayner Roberts & Tehani Wessely
  • Highly Commended: Olmec Obituary (Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth series) by L.J.M. Owen
  • Highly Commended: Undad by Shane W. Smith
• Nonfiction
  • Winner: Building a City: CS Daley and the Story of Canberra by Jennifer Horsfield
  • Highly Commended: Paths into Inner Canberra by P.S. Cottier
  • Highly Commended: Australian Predators of the Sky by Penny Olsen
  • Highly Commended: Weekend Warriors: A Funny Side by James Sanderson
• Children's
  • Winner: Horace the Baker’s Horse by Jackie French, illustrated by Peter Bray
  • Highly Commended: Lennie the Legend: Solo to Sydney by Pony by Stephanie Owen Reeder
  • Highly Commended: This is Captain Cook by Tania McCartney, illustrated by Christina Booth
• Poetry
  • Winner: Deep in the Valley of Tea Bowls by Kathy Kituai
  • Highly Commended: Ripples Under the Skin by Janette Pieloor
• The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award 2016
  • Winner: 'Sandman by Ron Schroer
  • Second Place: ‘Roadwork Ahead’ by Greg Burgess
  • Highly Commended: ‘Fight or Flight’ by Isabelo Gacusan
  • Highly Commended: ‘The Abject Redemption of Athalie Roche’ by Erin Prothero
• The June Shenfield Poetry Award^[20]
  • Winner: ‘Ghost’ by Hessom Razavi
  • Second Place: ‘Tumbleweed’ by Daniel Hutley
  • Second Place: ‘White Lilac (For Deb)’ by Saaro Umar
  • Highly Commended: ‘brontebright’ by Samuel Guthrie
  • Highly Commended: ‘My Grandmother’s Language’ by Nadia Niaz
  • Highly Commended: ‘The Lumber Room’ by Stephen Smithyman
• The Anne Edgeworth Fellowship for Young Writers
  • Winner: Rosanna Stevens
  • Shortlisted: Shu-Ling Chua
  • Shortlisted: Grace Finlayson
  • Shortlisted: Leearni Hamilton
• 2016 Judges
  • Fiction: Karen Viggers & Craig Cormick
  • Nonfiction: Biff Ward & Kristen Alexander
  • Poetry: Geoff Page & Andrew Galan
  • Children's Book: Tracey Hawkins & K.J. Taylor
  • The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award: Kaaron Warren
  • The June Shenfield Poetry Award: Jenni Kemarre Martiniello, Ann Shenfield & Holly Zhangthe

^[21]

2017

• Fiction
  • Winner: The Grief Hole by Kaaron Warren
  • Highly Commended: All the King's Men by Shane W. Smith
  • Highly Commended: Fabel by Tom Heffernan
• Children's
  • Winner: Amazing Animals of Australia's National Parks by Gina Newton
  • Highly Commended: Australia Illustrated by Tania McCartney
• June Shenfield Poetry Award
  • Winner: "third daughter" by Penny O'Hara
  • Winner: "Recycling" by Ella Jeffery
  • Highly Commended: "The Uses of a Shark" by Damen O'Brien
• Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award
  • Winner: "273" by Cherisse Kelly
  • Highly Commended: "The Secret Moons: by Frances Seymour
  • Highly Commended: "Intersection" by James Salvage
• Anne Edgeworth Fellowship
  • Winner: Jemimah Cooper
  • Winner: Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern
  • Highly Commended: Ellen Harvey
  • Highly Commended: Kathryn Hind

^[22]

2018

• Fiction
  • Winner: Paper Cuts: Comedic and satirical monologues for audition or performance by Kirsty Budding
• Nonfiction
  • Winner: Verity by Robert Lehane
• Children's
  • Winner: Trouble in Tune Town by Maura Pierlot
• Poetry
  • Winner: A Constellation of Abnormalities by Paul Cliff
• The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award
  • Winner: Loyal Animals by Amanda McLeod
• The June Shenfield Poetry Award
  • Winner: Incursion, Extinctions by Natalie Cooke
• The Anne Edgeworth Fellowship for Young Writers
  • Winner: Gemma Killen

^[23]

2019

• Fiction
  • Winner: Triumviratus by Shane Smith
  • Highly Commended: A Perfect Marriage by Alison Booth
  • Highly Commended: After She Left by Penelope Hanley
  • Highly Commended: Years of the Wolf by Craig Cormick
• Nonfiction
  • Winner: Backseat Drivers by Craig Cormick
  • Highly Commended: Joe Baker by Angelika Erpic
  • Highly Commended: Fire at Sea: HMAS Westralia 1998 by Kathryn Spurling
• Children's
  • Winner: Billie by Nicole Godwin and Demelsa Haughton
  • Winner: When Worlds Collide by Amy Laurens
• Poetry
  • Winner: Things I’ve Thought to Tell You Since I Saw You Last by Penelope Layland
  • Highly Commended: Inlandia by Ka Nelson
• The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award
  • Winner: "Pig Headed" by Ron Schroer
  • Highly Commended: "Nobody's Home" by Sophie Campbell
  • Highly Commended: "The Shearer's Wife" by Elizabeth Egan
• The June Shenfield Poetry Award
  • Winner: "Satan’s Brew" by Riahta Ranford
  • Highly Commended: "Last Lights On the Great Divide" by Simone King
  • Highly Commended: "Keeping My Wits About Me" by Rosalind Moran
• The Anne Edgeworth Fellowship for Young Writers
  • Winner: Kellie Nissen
  • Highly Commended: Simone King
  • Highly Commended: Rebekka Leary
  • Highly Commended: Gemma Nethercote Way
• 2019 Judges
  • Fiction: Kaaron Warren and Margaret Innes
  • Nonfiction: Amy Walters and Peter Papathansiou
  • Poetry: Hazel Hall and Merlinda Bobis
  • Children's Book: Tania McCartney and Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern
  • The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award: Beatrice Smith
  • The June Shenfield Poetry Award: Lucy Alexander

^[24]

2020

• Fiction^[25]
  • Winner: The Light Bearer by Andrew Einspruch
  • Highly Commended: A Tale of Stars and Shadow by Lisa Cassidy
  • Highly Commended: How Not To Acquire A Castle by Amy Laurens
  • Highly Commended: Into Bones like Oil by Kaaron Warren
• Nonfiction
  • Winner: Bandit Saints of Java by George Quinn
  • Highly Commended: Out of Order by Rob Donnelly
  • Highly Commended: Families in the Digital Age by Toni Hassan
• Children's
  • Winner: Fauna: Australia's Most Curious Creatures by Tania McCartney
  • Highly Commended: Leaping Lola by Tracey Hawkins and Anil Tortop
• Poetry
  • Winner: Acting Like a Girl by Sandra Renew
  • Highly Commended: blur by the by Cham Zhi Yi
  • Highly Commended: Catching the Light by Suzanne Edgar
• The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award
  • Winner: "Bygone" by Sophie Clews
  • Highly Commended: "The Navigators" by Mick Donaldson
  • Highly Commended: "Vertical" by Ian Hart
  • Highly Commended: "The Suitcase" by Deborah Huff-Horwood
• The June Shenfield Poetry Award
  • Winner: "Part of its trunk" by Elanna Herbert
  • Second Place: "Paper Daisies" by Carmel Summers
  • Third Place: "The Cleaning Woman" by Carla de Goede
• The Anne Edgeworth Fellowship for Young Writers
  • Winner: Natalie Cooke
  • Winner: Emilie Morscheck
• 2020 Judges
  • Fiction: Andrew Hutchinson and Leife Shallcross
  • Nonfiction: Helen Ennis and Patrick Mullins
  • Poetry: Andrew Galan and Eleanor Malbon
  • Children's Book: Leanne Barrett and Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern
  • The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award: Beatrice Smith
  • The June Shenfield Poetry Award: Judith Nangala Crispin and Scott-Patrick Mitchell

External links

• Judges Comments from the 2006 Awards

Notes and References

1. Web site: About MARION . MARION . 3 April 2024.
2. http://www.actwriters.org.au/competitions/winners%202005%20publishing%20awards.htm ACT Writing and Publishing Awards, ACT Writer's Centre
3. Web site: MARION Book Awards . MARION . 3 April 2024.
4. Web site: Obituary - Anne Godfrey-Smith - Obituaries Australia. oa.anu.edu.au. 2017-10-14.
5. Web site: ACT Writers Centre: June Shenfield Poetry Award. www.actwriters.org.au. en. 2017-06-27.
6. Web site: ACT Writers Centre: Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award. www.actwriters.org.au. en. 2017-06-27.
7. Web site: Michael Thwaites Poetry Award AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Austlit. www.austlit.edu.au. en. 2017-08-01.
8. Web site: ACT Writers Centre: Publishing Awards. www.actwriters.org.au. en. 2017-06-27.
9. Web site: ACT Writing and Publishing Awards Winners (2004 +). website. Libraries ACT. 29 November 2013.
10. Web site: ACT Writing and Publishing Awards. Services. ACT Government; PositionTitle=Director; SectionName=ACT Library and Information Services; Corporate=Territory and Municipal. 2015-11-12. www.library.act.gov.au. en. 2017-05-14.
11. Canberra Writers Celebrated by Gia Metherell, Canberra Times, 14 Dec 2007
12. http://www.actwriters.org.au/ ACT Writers Centre
13. Web site: 2011 ACT Writers Centre awards results . www.actwriters.org.au . ACT Writers Centre . 25 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121025104150/http://www.actwriters.org.au/awards/2011-winners.shtml . 2012-10-25 . dead .
14. Web site: 'A celebration of words' . 2 March 2014 .
15. News: Winners, winners everywhere - Canberra CityNews. 2013-12-20. Canberra CityNews. 2017-05-15. en-US.
16. Web site: Winners of the 2014 ACT Writing and Publishing Awards. actwriterscentre. 2014-12-17. CAPITAL LETTERS. 2017-05-15.
17. Web site: ACT Writers Centre: Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award. www.actwriters.org.au. en. 2017-05-14.
18. Web site: ACT Writers Centre: Anne Edgeworth Young Writers' Fellowship. www.actwriters.org.au. en. 2017-05-14.
19. Web site: ACT Writing and Publishing Award Winners. actwriterscentre. 2015-12-16. CAPITAL LETTERS. 2017-05-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20160917182423/https://actwritersblog.com/2015/12/17/act-writing-and-publishing-award-winners/. 2016-09-17. dead.
20. Web site: ACT Writers Centre: June Shenfield Poetry Award. www.actwriters.org.au. en. 2017-05-14.
21. Web site: 2016 ACT Writing and Publishing Award Winners. actwriterscentre. 2017-01-19. CAPITAL LETTERS. 2017-05-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20170726110349/https://actwritersblog.com/2017/01/19/2016-act-writing-and-publishing-award-winners/. 2017-07-26. dead.
22. Web site: CityNews. 2017-12-07. Kaaron wins ACT's top fiction award. 2020-08-03. Canberra CityNews. en-AU.
23. Web site: 2018-12-10. Monday musings on Australian literature: ACT's literary awards. 2020-08-03. Whispering Gums. en.
24. Web site: Musa. Helen. 2019-12-05. Locals write some big wins in publishing awards. 2020-08-03. Canberra CityNews. en-AU.
25. Web site: ACT Writers Annual Awards - 2020. 2021-04-05. ACT Writers. en-GB.