A New Award for Unpublished Writers of Teen Fiction

Storylines Trust and HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand are proud to announce an exciting new annual award on the children’s literary scene — the Storylines Tessa Duder Award for unpublished writers of fiction for young adults, named in honour of one of New Zealand’s best writers for young adults.

Unpublished writers looking for an opportunity to emulate the outstanding writing careers of Kiwi authors such as William Taylor, Kate De Goldi, Bernard Beckett or Tessa Duder herself will be excited by this new initiative.

The award has been set up in recognition of Tessa’s outstanding contribution to children’s literature, both in terms of publishing output and her tireless work in the area of children’s literacy, particularly as one of the founding members of the Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust.
‘As someone who over three decades has seen New Zealand’s young adult publishing go from strength to strength,’ says Duder, ‘I am truly delighted that the new award will provide a kick-start for an exciting new talent. Storylines and HarperCollins Publishers are to be congratulated for setting up this first award specifically for a YA manuscript, and I confidently look forward to seeing each year’s winners go on to establishing solid writing careers.’

The emergence of the Tessa Duder Award for young adult fiction reflects the extraordinary strength of fiction for teenagers. ‘It’s a huge growth area internationally,’ says HarperCollins’ Managing Director, Tony Fisk. ‘We are particularly pleased to be associated with an award carrying the name of one of our top children’s writers. HarperCollins has developed an enviable children’s publishing programme both internationally and in New Zealand. We are very excited about the prospects of discovering some wonderful new children’s writers for the programme.”

 

 The Tessa Duder Award will be administered by Storylines and sponsored by HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand.
It will complete the line up of prestigious awards made annually by the Trust to writers for children in New Zealand.  Entries for the inaugural award close on 31 October, with winners to be announced at the Storylines annual Margaret Mahy Day and International Children’s Book Day on Saturday 2 April 2011.

The winner will receive $1500, and the possibility of a publishing contract with HarperCollins Publishers.
 Full details and criteria for entry will be listed on the Storylines Tessa Duder Award page.