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The shortlist for the 2018 Inky Awards for young adult literature – chosen by a teen judging panel – was announced today at Bendigo Writers Festival schools program, Text Marks the Spot.
The 2018 Inky Awards shortlist, selected by a judging panel of nine teens from across Australia, includes 10 titles across two categories: the Gold Inky for Australian fiction and the Silver Inky for international fiction. The Gold Inky winner takes home a $2000 prize.
The announcement of this year’s shortlist was made by the Centre for Youth Literature at State Library Victoria, in partnership with Bendigo Writers Festival, City of Greater Bendigo and La Trobe University.
Centre for Youth Literature Reading and Literacy Development Manager Rebecca Henson said the longlisted titles that the shortlist was chosen from addressed themes of mental health, racism, LGBTI+ and family dysfunction, without moralising to teen readers.
“With a longlist of such a high calibre it was a difficult challenge for the judges to select a shortlist for the Gold and Silver Inky Awards. The nine teens took the weight of this responsibility very seriously, debating their selection over many hours and showing an admirable dedication to the task,” Ms Henson said.
Teen judge Sylvia said agreeing on a shortlist wasn’t easy, but the decision-making process was a lot of fun.
“Being part of the Inky Awards was one of the craziest yet most rewarding experiences of my life! Not only did I get to read 20 books, which is a book lover’s dream come true, but I made so many friends from all around Australia,” Sylvia said.
Text Marks the Spot Program Coordinator Sarah Mayor Cox said it was exciting to host the Inky Awards shortlist announcement at the festival for the first time.
“We are delighted that the Inky shortlist has been announced during Text Marks the Spot. The Inky Awards are a natural fit for us, and enhance the program’s appeal to budding writers and young readers,” Ms Mayor Cox said.
2018 Inky Awards Shortlist
Gold Inky Award Shortlist
Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology edited by Danielle Binks (HarperCollins Publishers)
Beautiful Mess by Claire Christian (Text Publishing)
Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell & Fiona Wood (Pan Macmillan)
Paper Cranes Don’t Fly by Peter Vu (Ford Street Publishing)
In the Dark Spaces by Cally Black (Hardie Grant Egmont)
Silver Inky Award Shortlist
Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King (Text Publishing)
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (HarperCollins)
Warcross by Marie Lu (Penguin Random House)
Release by Patrick Ness (Walker Books)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Walker Books)
Public voting is now open to teen readers at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Inky2018
Voting closes on 16 September at 5.30pm EST and the winners will be announced at State Library Victoria on October 2.
The Inky Awards were established in 2007 as Australia’s first national teen choice awards for young adult literature.