Writing awards, Peter Macinnis

First draft, with a few wrinkles. Most of the links work...

I apologise for dropping this in here, but after iinet treacherously and without warning, banjaxed my web site, I need a quick fix for submissions to publishers.

 

Some of my gongs: I'm hurrying here, and there are a few missing...

Summary

Most of these works are already accessible from this link: when the pressure lets up, I will add the rest.

CBCA Notable books:  1998: The Desert; 2008: Kokoda Track: 101 Days; 2010: Australian Backyard Explorer; 2011: The Monster Maintenance Manual  2013: Australian Backyard Naturalist  2014: The Big Book of Australian History 2020: Australian Backyard Earth Scientist

CBCA Short List books: 2008: Kokoda Track: 101 Days 2010: Australian Backyard Explorer

CBCA Eve Pownall Honour Book: 2008: Kokoda Track: 101 Days

CBCA Eve Pownall Winner: 2010: Australian Backyard Explorer

NSW Premier's History Awards, Young People's History Prize Short list: 2007: Kokoda Track: 101 Days

Wilderness Society Short List: 2000: The Rainforest

White Ravens List: 2011: Australian Backyard Explorer

Whitley Awards: 2000: The Rainforest; 2012: Australian Backyard Naturalist 

Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing: 1997: Slam Dunk Series (Send it to Forensic and Tall Tales or True?); 2019: Australian Backyard Earth Scientist, Student resource: Arts/Science/Humanities/Social Sciences/Technologies/Health and Physical Education/Languages, winner.

WA Premier's Book Awards, Children's Literature: 2013: Australian Backyard Naturalist  (joint winner)

Background

Friends can be polite and say your book is excellent when it isn't, critics often don't know what they are talking about (and I should know: I write reviews sometimes), but most awards are a bit different. All things being equal, some discerning people have looked at your work and decided they can see merit in it, and marked the event by printing off a fancy certificate.

There is one drawback: I have several times had a reviewer express the opinion that one of my children's books was created to meet the requirements of the Eve Pownall Awards. I don't work that way: I do a story that is honest and scientifically correct, and one that has a beginning, a middle and an end. UPDATE: in April 2008, I was surprised to discover that my Kokoda Track: 101 Days had been shortlisted for that very award, sponsored by the Children's Book Council of Australia! Better still, on August 15, I got Honour Book status. Not quite THE prize, even now, but I'm happy, given the competition.

Kokoda Track: 101 Days was also shortlisted for the 2007 NSW Premier's History Prize in the Young people's History Prize category, but missed the Big One. No matter, it got up at the CBCA awards as an Eve Pownall Honour Book.

I'm still not trying to write to any specification but I must be on their wavelength. On March 30, 2010, I was present at a function in Sydney when the shortlist was announced, and my Australian Backyard Explorer was in the 2010 Eve Pownall shortlist. Then in August, it was named as the winner of the Children's Book Council of Australia Eve Pownall award for Information Books. I'm not sure if I approve of people getting awards for having fun, but I didn't say that to anybody until I had my paws on the goodies! It was later added to the prestigious international White Ravens awards for 2011. Have a look, and see the fine company I keep!

Titles I have enjoyed writing in the past include Send it to Forensic and Tall Tales or True?, from Treehouse Press. These were part of the SlamDunks series, which gained a "commended" in the Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing. Ho hum, always the bridesmaid . . . well, I was, back then. In 2019, as indicated above, I was a winner in the same awards.

In 1998, "The Desert" was cited as notable in the CBCA Book of the Year awards -- and made it onto the Clayton's short list, but not the real thing. "The Rainforest" was shortlisted for the Wilderness Society's Environment Award for children's literature -- we missed the Big One, but, hey, somebody out there likes us -- and in July 2000, we took out a Whitley award for "Best Children's Book -- Story and Illustration". See The Whitley Awards page of the Royal Zoological Society of NSW for more.

In 2011, my children's book The Monster Maintenance Manual was a CBCA notable book and Australian Backyard Naturalist was a notable in 2013. That means, in all, I have had five notable books. That's not too shabby.

In late 2012, my Australian Backyard Naturalist received a Whitley Award from the Royal Zoological Society of NSW. In July 2013, this book was short-listed for the W.A. Premier's Book Awards, and on September 16, it was joint winner with Steven Herrick's Pookie Allera is Not My Boyfriend.

In April 2014, my The Big Book of Australian History was a notable book in the CBCA Eve Pownalls. I am in the middle of converting this into a three-times-the-size version for adults (suitable for teens and accessible to kids of all ages).