I am stoked to bursting to announce that my novella, Ladies’ Rest and Writing Room, is a winner of the inaugural Finlay Lloyd 20/40 Prize.

This prize is awarded to prose works of between 20,000 and 40,000 words in length, and for writing that is ‘imaginative and challenging’.

Set in Sydney in the wake of World War I, Ladies’ Rest and Writing Room is the story of two young women – Dotty and Clarinda – who have each suffered devastating losses. When their paths cross unexpectedly in a busy city department store, recognition flares and with it a chance of new life and a new understanding of love.

I will be forever pinching myself that the judges said of this piece of my heart: ‘It’s rare to come across a work of deep psychological insight conveyed with such verve and lightness of touch.’  And that, ‘Kelly sweeps the reader into the lives and passions of her two central characters and into the bustling city streets of Sydney in the 1920s. A powerfully moving book that sparkles with vitality.’

The award is wonderfully designed for two winners, because books are meant for sharing, and my novella sits proudly and admiringly beside Rebecca Burton’s exquisite Ravenous Girls – a story of two sisters growing up and growing apart in 1980s Adelaide. It’s a soulful, utterly original exploration of adolescence and anorexia – and it involves ABBA, as so many of our tender hearts did once upon a time.

I am grateful to the judges that they have chosen these particular stories: two books that mirror and contrast the vulnerabilities and complexities of young women across time, and across Australia.

As much as I’m thrilled that my novella has won a prize, I’m also thrilled that there is a new novella prize on the Australian literary calendar. So, here’s a hearty hooray for Finlay Lloyd, and a big-as-the-sky thank you to publisher Julian Davies, who devotes so much time and care to the books in his realm, the beauty of their printed form, and the ideas that bloom inside them.

Book-loving friends, please throw your support behind the 20/40 Prize. Writers, get your novellas ready for next year’s call!

And if you’d like to purchase copies of either or both of this year’s winning books, you can do that here.

Kim x

Image background: Pawel Czerwinski, Unsplash.