you are HERE is an unpublished novel that is shortlisted for the 2025 Dorothy Hewett Award. In this short interview, with UWA Publishing intern Reilly McGrath, Roderick Poole shares how it feels to be shortlisted and his advice for writers looking to submit to the Dorothy Hewett Award in the future.
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Roderick Poole lives and works in Melbourne. He had some plays produced last century. This is his first novel.Â
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you are HERE is a Romeo and Juliet story, told by a teenager called Roo, set in the ruins of a future Melbourne in the wake of major upheaval known as The Grief. Two young lovers from opposite sides of the tracks fall madly in love and join forces to sabotage an exploitative mega corporation. It is part romance, part thriller but also a detailed interior portrait of a creative kid and his passions and dreams. The 2025 Dorothy Hewett Award judges commented "A virtuosic novel from the eyes of Roo – a resident of Northcote Town – in a future climate and disease ravaged version of the suburbs of Melbourne, you are HERE is unlike any novel in contemporary Australian literature. At base, this is a love story, between Roo and Ju-Ju, for the community of Northcote Town and for music, all under threat from the technological advances of the HERE corporation."
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UWA Publishing intern, Reilly McGrath, interviewed Roderick about his shortlisting:
Reilly McGrath: What does being shortlisted for the Dorothy Hewett Award mean to you? Â
Roderick: Novel writing is a lonely business – a very lonely business – so to get some recognition from people I've never met is a wonderful thing. (Just to have someone READ the manuscript is a wonderful thing.) News of the shortlist got me fired up to the extent that I'm already close to completing a new draft. A novel isn't written it's re-written. Â
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Reilly: How long have you been working on this piece, and what made you want to submit to the DHA this year? Â
Roderick: I've been working on this piece for much longer than I'd like to admit. I decided it was time to put it out into the world and this seemed like a great place to do it. I like the fact that the judging is blind – something that isn't always the case and certainly can't be the case once a work is published.Â
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Reilly: Do you have any advice for writers considering submitting their work in to the Dorothy Hewett Award in the future?Â
Roderick: Just do it! There's really nothing to lose. Even if your work doesn't reach the shortlist, gearing up for the entry is a great reason to put an extra effort in to finish yet another draft. (If you are wrestling with a novel, your life becomes a series of draft completions and the closer together you can bring them, the better.)Â
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you are HEREÂ is an unpublished fiction manuscript shortlisted for the 2025 Dorothy Hewett Award. The winner will be announced late July.
Reilly McGrath is a former Bachelor of Arts student from the University of Western Australia, with First Class Honours in English Literary Studies. Â
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Check out our interviews with the other 5 shortlisted writers: