Storyteller

Furphy Literary Award Winner 2023

Jen won the 2023 award for her short story Away to Me, which judges described as an ‘uplifting and offbeat love story’. She was presented with a cheque for $15,000 at the ceremony. In addition to the cash prize, Jen’s story was published in the 2023 Furphy Anthology and she has been invited to a residency at La Trobe University to work on her writing.

Click here to read Away to Me

The 2023 judging panel was made up of Anson Cameron, Margaret Hickey, John Harms, Stephanie Holt, Thornton McCamish and John Kerr. Anson Cameron said Jen’s winning entry was ‘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 recognised 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.’
Anson Cameron, Furphy Judge

Read more about the Furphy Literary Award or awards here.