Publishing Prize
The Winners
Finlay Lloyd Publishers and the 20/40 Judging Panel are delighted to announce the Winners for 2023:
Rebecca Burton Ravenous Girls
Kim Kelly Ladies’ Rest and Writing Room
Rebecca Burton
Ravenous Girls
Comments from the Judging Panel
Why this book is different
Stories of family dysfunction often expose us to relentless failure. And while Ravenous Girls is about the tensions and growing distance between two sisters—the elder burdened by anorexia, the younger by self-doubt—it is distinguished by its lithe and tender understanding of the complexities of growing up.
Why we liked it
Wonderfully expressive, Burton’s re-creation of 1980s family relationships is tuned to the quieter, more nuanced moods behind the fears and hopes of her charactacters.
Kim Kelly
Ladies’ Rest and Writing Room
Comments from the Judging Panel
Why this book is different
Two young women, brought up to expect conventional lives, are thrown together in unexpected circumstances. Each has suffered a devastating loss that challenges their belief in life and themselves. It’s rare to come across a work of deep psychological insight conveyed with such verve and lightness of touch.
Why we liked it
Kelly sweeps the reader into the lives and passions of her two central characters and into the bustling city streets of Sydney in the 1920s. A powerfully moving book that sparkles with vitality.
About the Winning Authors
Rebecca Burton
Rebecca is the author of two novels for young adults, Leaving Jetty Road and Beyond Evie, both named as Notable Books by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Leaving Jetty Road also won a Varuna Award for Manuscript Development and both books were published overseas.
A former Senior Editor for the University of Adelaide Press, Rebecca now provides freelance editing and manuscript assessment services. More information about her work can be found at rebeccaburtoneditor.com.
Kim Kelly
Kim is the author of twelve novels, including the critically acclaimed novella, Wild Chicory, and The Rat Catcher:
A Love Story, which was long-listed for the 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Kim is also a book editor and is currently researching a PhD on Australian historical fiction through Macquarie University. Originally from Sydney, she now lives in Millthorpe, central west New South Wales, on Wiradjuri Country. Find out more about Kim and her work at kimkellyauthor.com.
Interview with the Winning Authors
Julian Davies, publisher and editor at Finlay Lloyd and member of the Judging panel, interviews Rebecca and Kim about their work. Here, you can watch the full-length interview or a shorter collection of extracts.
Get the Winning Books for 2023 from our online store
A 10% discount applies when you buy both books.
A note on the 20/40 process
The Winning Books have been printed and published by Finlay Lloyd.
In 2023, the first year of the prize, there was a low number of non-fiction entries of quality, with the result that the Winning Books are two fiction entries. As awareness of 20/40 grows, Finlay Lloyd looks forward to more non-fiction entries of a quality that demands a place among the shortlist and winning books.
The judging panel for the 2023 20/40 Prize was Katia Ariel, Christine Balint, John Clanchy, Julian Davies and Stefanie Markidis.
The 20/40 Publishing Prize is overseen by an
expert advisory board:
Dr Christine Balint
John Clanchy
Donna Ward
Dr Meredith McKinney
Emeritus Professor Kevin Brophy AM
With assistance from
Strategic Adviser: Dr Bidda Jones AM
Technical Adviser: James Smith
The 20/40 Publishing Prize is overseen by an expert advisory board:
Dr Christine Balint
John Clanchy
Donna Ward
Dr Meredith McKinney
Emeritus Professor Kevin Brophy AM
With assistance from
Strategic Adviser: Dr Bidda Jones AM
Technical Adviser: James Smith
About Finlay Lloyd
About Finlay Lloyd
Finlay Lloyd is an independent, non-profit publisher, founded in 2005, dedicated to encouraging imaginative and challenging writing, to subtly innovative design and to celebrating the pleasures of print on paper in an electronic age. To find out more, visit our website.
Finlay Lloyd is an independent, non-profit publisher, founded in 2005, dedicated to encouraging imaginative and challenging writing, to subtly innovative design and to celebrating the pleasures of print on paper in an electronic age. To find out more, visit our website.
E: finlaylloyd@sharewater.net