Geelong-based Writer Wins the 2019 Judith Rodriguez Award
The Judith Rodriguez Prize is awarded annually to an outstanding piece of work in fiction, poetry or creative nonfiction submitted in a third-year coded unit during trimester one or two. Work is nominated for the long list by relevant third-year staff and then judged by two members of the Professional and Creative Writing discipline area.
We are very pleased to announce that the winner of this year’s Judith Rodriguez Prize is Geelong-based writer Maddison Brake for her piece titled, ‘The Analogue Supermarket’. A compelling work of short fiction, The Analogue Supermarket was praised by judges for ‘occupying an unsettling space between magical realism and science fiction, and notable for its precise prose and arresting imagery, the story is an uncanny parable on time and mortality’.
As the winner, Maddison receives:
- $450 of mentoring from a professional writer (organised through Writers Victoria);
- Free membership of Writers Victoria for 2020; and
- Publication of the winning piece in Verandah Journal in 2020.
The Judith Rodriguez Prize is named after distinguished Australian poet, educator and human rights advocate, Judith Rodriguez (1936 – 2018). You can read more about Judith’s life and work, here.
The Long list
‘A & I’ by Laura Clark
‘Astrid’ by Matthew Bate
‘Family (dis)Functions’ by Melina Bunting
‘Icarus Falling’ by Dani Netherclift
‘Odyssey to the Underworld’ by Julia Fazzari
‘The Analogue Supermarkt’ by Maddison Brake
‘Wait for Me on that Lamp Post’ by Devi Budiutami
‘When the Eye of Horus Closes’ by Valerie Hughes
Highly Commended
1. ‘Odyssey to the Otherworld’ by Julia Fazzari
2. ‘Family (dis)Functions’ by Melina Bunting
3. ‘When the Eye of Horus Closes’ by Valerie Hughes
Introducing This Year’s Winner
Maddison Brake is a Geelong-based writer with an affinity for supermarkets. Currently consuming the likes of Evaristo, Machado and Sappho while awaiting her graduation.
Although Maddison’s winning piece won’t be published until next year, you can see some of her current writing for Deakin’s Disruptr here.
Congratulations to Maddison and all of the shortlisted writers!
*Featured image (Cover) by Jason Leung on Unsplash