2020 Storylines Tessa Duder Award winner |
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Cristina Sanders of Havelock North is the winner of the 2020 Storylines Tessa Duder Award for a manuscript for a young adult novel with her first YA manuscript, Displaced. The award is sponsored by Walker Books Australia. Linsay Knight, Head of Australian and New Zealand Publishing for Walker Books, says, “As proud sponsor of the Tessa Duder Award, we congratulate Cristina on her win. Displaced is a riveting read and a most worthy recipient of such an import accolade. This story is one that readers everywhere will treasure and hold close to their hearts.” Cristina grew up in the family’s Gateway Bookshop in Wellington, where all books were tested on children. She had an early career in the book trade: bookshops, libraries, publishers and marketing, and then a career in business. Throughout her career, she read and dreamed about becoming an author. It took a post-grad diploma in Creative Writing to realise that storytelling is not magic but a craft that can be learned, and this inspired her to ditch the day job. She now “joyfully writes more-or-less full time, but occasionally runs away to sea on tall ships. Call it research,” she says. Displaced is inspired by her family’s immigration from Norway in the 1870s. Her first adult novel, Jerningham, is about the original wild boy of colonial Wellington, and will be published by Cuba Press in June. Also on the shortlist were: Lose-Lose by Amy Martin from Ohaupo Fatty & Skinny by Karen Nimmo from Wellington The Forever Forest by Sonya Wilson from Auckland |
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Storylines Tessa Duder Award winner - book launch 2019Tina Shaw from Reporoa was announced as the 2018 Storylines Tessa Duder Award winner for an original manuscript for a young adult novel, for her work “Ursa”.Sandra Noakes of Harper Collins represented Walker books at the Storylines National Margaret Mahy Awards Day on 31 March 2019 to launch Ursa, a powerful alternate history coming-of-age YA novel. Sandra introduced winning author Tina Shaw, and presented her with her award and flowers before the formal launch of the book by Tessa Duder. Storylines Tessa Duder Award winner Tina Shaw speaks at the launch |
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Tina's novel, Ursa, could be an allegory to Nazi Germany, or a possible dystopian future. It's a story of hope against the odds. There are two peoples living in the city of Ursa: the Cerels and the Travesters. Travesters move freely and enjoy a fine quality of life. Cerel men are kept in wild camps and the women are no longer allowed to have children. The Director presides over all with an iron fist. Fifteen-year-old Leho can’t remember a time when Cerels lived without fear in Ursa. His parents once tried to organise an Tina Shaw has written several books for young people. In 2010, About Griffen’s Heart was a Storylines Notable Book and was short-listed for the LIANZA Children’s Book Awards. Her other publications for younger readers include the fantasy novels Into the Hinterland and its sequel Dogs of the Hinterland, and the YA novels Make a Hard Fist and Gun- Cover of Ursa |
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Three other writers were shortlisted in 2018:
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