THE JOY OF THE SHORTLIST
11th December 2013
My first ever long form non-fiction manuscript has just been shortlisted for an important prize. Whatever the outcome, it is a genuine thrill to have been selected as one of four contenders for the award. When the letter bearing the glad tidings arrived I had all but forgotten that the manuscript was out there, since the closing date for entries was way back in June. However, the rush of pleasure on opening has reminded me that, with the slow business of writing, it pays to keep many irons in the fire.
Love At The Endings is part memoir, part travel, part history; it is a meditation on music, memory, and impermanence, and is particularly precious to me because of the personal stories it contains. Being non-fiction, it is also a new and exciting writing direction, so to have reached the shortlist in the prestigious Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature is a tremendous encouragement.
