2019 Affirm Press Mentorship Award

Thank you to the editorial team at Affirm Press for selecting the writers that will participate in the Varuna & Affirm Press Mentorship Award 2019. These writers and their manuscripts are:

Big Magic by Sarah Armstrong

The Mysterious Affair of the Cocoa Bean by Jacqueline Mohr

I Can’t Even by Nicola Wardley

Varuna received 128 manuscripts from writers across Australia for the 2019 Affirm Press Mentorship Award. The manuscripts were each double-read in the first selection process, and a shortlisted selection as well as the complete set of applications with manuscripts were sent to Affirm Press for their final selection. The Affirm Press editorial team made their decision partly based on the strength of the writing, and the potential of each book to connect with an audience.

The Affirm Press Mentorship Award includes a one-week residency at Varuna including the opportunity to work with Affirm Press editors while in residence.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Varuna once again, this time with a focus on books for young readers. The quality of submissions we received was extremely high, and it truly was a challenge to pick three from the shortlisted fifteen titles. We’re very much looking forward to working with the successful authors and think that with genres like contemporary, mystery and fantasy all covered, we are set for a fascinating week at Varuna.”

Meg Whalan and Davina Bell, Affirm Press

Thank you to all of the writers who submitted, and we wish you the best with your writing. Thank you also to Martin Hughes and the Affirm Press editorial team who were dedicated, thoughtful and supportive throughout the process, and to Varuna assessors Melina Marchetta and Nancy Conescu who did an exceptional job of reading and deliberating on a very high standard of submissions.