CBCA NSW announces shortlist for 2017 mentorship program

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) NSW branch has announced the shortlist for the 2017 Aspiring Writers Mentorship Program for unpublished children’s writers.

The three shortlisted writers are:

• Angela Costigan for the picture book ‘Baby and Me Sit Quietly’, ‘a gentle, wonder-filled story of a parent taking time to pause and watch the world go by with their baby’
• Jackie Randall for the junior-fiction novel ‘Go See in the Night’, ‘a historical adventure story, set in medieval London, of twelve-year-old Ashel’s fight against a criminal mastermind, helped by his two friends and customs officer Geoffrey Chaucer’
• Maura Pierlot for the YA novel ‘Freefalling’, ‘a touching, humorous story of fifteen-year-old Harley and her struggle to find her place in the world as she fights a downward spiral of weight loss, self-loathing and broken friendships’.

The shortlist was chosen from a longlist of 17 by representatives from HarperCollins. In total, 106 manuscripts were submitted for the program.

The winning writer, also chosen by HarperCollins, will receive the Charlotte Waring Barton Award and a mentorship with the publisher. The winner will be announced at CBCA NSW’s Aspiring Writers Night on 9 November.

This is the second year that HarperCollins has partnered with CBCA NSW on the mentorship program, which was previously only open to NSW residents but now includes all Australian residents.

For more information, click here.

Category: Junior Local news