Peter Vu announced winner of Gold Inky Awards for 2018

The Centre for Youth Literature at State Library Victoria today announced the winners of the 2018 Inky Awards, Australia’s national teen choice prize for young adult literature.

The 2018 Gold Inky was awarded to Paper Cranes Don’t Fly by Peter Vu (Ford Street Publishing). The Gold Inky is awarded each year to an Australian author and includes a cash prize of $2,000.

Mr Vu said: “Being called an author is still a funny concept to me, but being an award-winning one is something I never would have dreamed of. I feel honoured to have won the Gold Inky Award, especially as my novel was up against such amazing books by highly established authors. It’s also great to have won an award chosen by teens, as I think the Inkys encourage more young people to read. It also may have helped that I was a teenager myself when I finished writing Paper Cranes Don’t Fly.”

The Silver Inky is awarded each year to an international author, and this year’s winner is US-based Angie Thomas for her novel The Hate U Give (Walker Books).

The Inky Awards are Australia’s only literary prize for young adult literature overseen by a dedicated panel of young adult judges from across Australia. Readers aged between 12-20 years old vote for their favourite books from a shortlist selected by the judges. Voting is conducted online through State Library Victoria’s youth literature website, insideadog.com.au and the shortlisted authors who receive the most votes win.

Centre for Youth Literature Manager, Bec Henson said the Inky Awards, now in their twelfth year, have built a strong reputation for representing quality literature that teens want to read.

“The Inky Awards are unique in recognising the talented and diverse readership of teens. They play an important role in inspiring teens to read for pleasure and to share their passion for stories with their peers. This year’s winners highlight that young Australian readers are discerning and thoughtful and really interested in reading.”

The Inky Awards were established in 2007 as Australia’s first national teen choice awards for young adult literature.