The Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Victorian Writer: Judges 2006

Chris Thompson is a Melbourne-based writer, director, teacher and arts manager. A former secondary school teacher, he was Artistic Director of St Martin’s Youth Arts Centre in Melbourne from 1988 to 1996, and from 1996 to 2002 was a founding member of the Artistic Directorate of Hot House Theatre, a leading regional theatre company based in Albury/Wodonga. He has written for theatre, film and television and has published a number of short stories for young adult readers. He is the Chair of the Victorian Writers’ Centre.

Wayne Macauley is a widely published short story writer and a former winner of The Age Short Story Competition. His debut novel, Blueprints for a Barbed-Wire Canoe, is a VCE English recommended text for 2006. His new novel, Caravan Story, is due for release in late 2006.

Melanie Ostell is the senior editor at Text Publishing and has been with the company since 1997. She is involved in all aspects of managing fiction and non-fiction titles from receipt of manuscript to the finished book. Text authors include Murray Bail, Tim Flannery, Shane Maloney, Inga Clendinnen, Tom Gilling and Sarah Murgatroyd.