
THE judges in this year’s Bass Coast Prize for Non-Fiction are curious to see whether local writers will tackle the events of the past eight months – drought, fire and plague – or whether they will avoid them completely.
Past experience suggest it is often years or even decades before writers feel they can tackle disaster and tragedy. The great novels of the First World War – All Quiet in the Western Front, Mrs Dalloway, Goodbye to All That – didn’t appear until the late 1920s, more than a decade after the war ended.
With entries closing on September 4, we will have to wait and see how writers respond.
Last year the inaugural Bass Coast Prize for Non-Fiction attracted 42 entries, ranging from personal memoir and true adventure through to biography, natural history and local history. The prize is sponsored by Phillip Island writer and activist Phyllis Papps to encourage and support writers who have a strong connection with the Gippsland region. | Entries close Sept 4 Entries for this year’s prize close on September 4 and winners will be announced in November. For information, visit Bass Coast Prize for Non Fiction or email [email protected]. |
The prize is auspiced by the Bass Coast Post and the Waterline News. The three judges are Bass Coast Post editor Catherine Watson, Waterline News editor Geoff Ellis and local writer Anne Heath Mennell.
Last year’s winner, Christine Grayden says winning the prize bolstered her confidence. “I have become more adventurous in both the topics I tackle and in technique. Unfortunately, due to ill health this year, I haven’t been able to write as much as I would like to.”
Her winning entry. Jobs that no Longer Exist: a Memoir, was not the one she originally intended to enter. “I had intended to write about ‘Third places’ in Bass Coast and did a great deal of reading research but then started running out of time to interview users of those places, so decided to completely change tack.
“Fortunately I already had three fairly basic memoir drafts on the various jobs that followed one theme. So I did a lot of work on them to flesh out the detail and add more information and context to turn them into a cohesive whole.”
Still, she is working on two pieces for this year’s prize. “They both need more work and I’m not very well at present. But I’m hoping lots of writers do enter!”
Julie Constable, who won second prize in the 2019 competition with Pittosporum Flowering, notes that while many writers have more time this year, it’s also an unsettling time to be writing.
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“Various ideas have come to me for the 2020 Prize, but I haven’t been able to concentrate fully on the research and writing. Lots of thinking, not so much pen to paper. Perhaps the ideas need to stew a bit longer.
She says she usually writes without knowing whether she’ll the piece somewhere or whether it will be just for friends to read. “The brochure promoting the Bass Coast Prize inspired me to focus on an issue I had been concerned about, the long form essay giving me the opportunity to reflect upon and explore the personal, environmental and historical stories that I wanted to unite.
“It was wonderful to win a prize. So often writers’ work is unrewarded. Phyllis Papps must be commended for her support for writing in Gippsland and hats off to the Bass Coast Post for the organisation and support of the prize.”
Philip Island poet Malcolm Brodie won third prize with Alzheimer Sufferer/Carer Suite and recalls the competition as a high point in local cultural life.
“Talk about a cloud of happiness,” he says. “It wasn’t just the money but the generosity. This wonderful gesture. It came out of the blue.
“Honest to God, I was astounded at Phyllis’s generosity and here she is sponsoring the prize for the second year in a row. I am just staggered by the generosity.”
The prize giving at The Gurdies Winery in February – only a month before the pandemic changed everything – now seems like a golden age. An audience of about 80 listened intently as Don Watson, one of Australia’s finest non-fiction writers, talked about the art of writing, before mingling under the grapevines enjoying host Dick Wetherall’s award-winning wines and some good conversation.