With Chanel Cole at the awards
Twenty-three has always been my favourite number. I was born on the 23rd. In my 23rd year I graduated from university into this writing and editing life. And last night at the 23rd annual Canberra Critics Circle Awards I picked up an award for The Invisible Thread.
Earlier that day I had been preparing documentation for the Centenary of Canberra summarising our year of achievements. Most importantly, of course, there is the anthology itself. A collection of 100 years of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by 75 writers with a connection to Canberra. The book has been enthusiastically received by both readers and critics, with Australian Book Review calling it ‘a captivating collection’ and Whispering Gums concluding that The Invisible Thread ‘should be on every Australian bookshelf’. I can’t think of a better endorsement than that!
In addition there have been a series of video interviews with Invisible Thread authors, a book trailer, an animation of Judy Horacek’s illustrations, eight incredible events featuring so many of our authors, and the creation of the ACT Writers Showcase website, the first site of its kind in Australia.
Needless to say it has been a busy and wonderful year. I’ve had the good fortune to share it with the dedicated anthology Advisory Committee and all the authors who make The Invisible Thread such a special book. And to receive a Canberra Critics Circle Award is a grand way to top it all off, particularly given that it was alongside Thread authors Lesley Lebkowicz (for The Petrov Poems) and Robert Macklin (for Dark Paradise), as well as that super talented crew from Scissors Paper Pen.
To read about the full list of award recipients across all art forms see this article in The Canberra Times, and for photos of the night click here.
