News & Stories

Literary prize fosters new Tasmanian stories

Newsroom

Cameron Hindrum
Award-winning author Cameron Hindrum

The University of Tasmania Prize has been taken out by alumnus Cameron Hindrum at the 2022 Tasmanian Literary Awards.

Mr Hindrum won the $10,000 prize, awarded for the best new unpublished literary work by a Tasmanian writer, for his second novel The Sand.

The work is based loosely on the unsolved murder of an Italian backpacker on an East Coast beach in 1995.

Mr Hindrum, who completed his Education and Master’s degrees at the University, said he would aim to use the prize money to fund a writing residency and to help set up his own publishing imprint.

“I am still getting my head around how I can make the best use of the University of Tasmania Prize,” he said.

“I have plans to complete the first draft of my next novel in 2023, and also to fund some creative development to adapt The Sand for performance as a play.”

The prize has a distinguished history, with former winners including published authors Brendan Colley, Adam Ousten, Lois Murphy and Katherine Johnson.

Executive Dean of the College of Arts, Law and Education, Professor Kate Darian-Smith, congratulated Mr Hindrum.

“This prize makes a vital contribution to fostering Tasmanian talent,” Professor Darian-Smith said.

“It not only gives new writers a chance to have their work considered for publication, but also enhances that vital need to tell stories about us and about our island.”

University of Tasmania alumni also took home awards in several prestigious categories. Amanda Lohrey won the Premier’s Prize for Fiction, Andrew Darby the Premier’s Prize for Non-Fiction and Lian Tanner the Minister for the Arts' Prize for Books for Young Readers and Children. Aboriginal Research Fellow in the College of Health and Medicine Dr Jen Evans was awarded the Tasmanian Aboriginal Writer’s Fellowship.