Josh Kemp has won the WA Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer for his debut novel Banjawarn
Josh Kemp and UWAP Publishing Manager, Kate Pickard, at the WA Premier's Book Awards
On Friday 23 June 2023, Josh Kemp was awarded the WA Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer at the WA Premier's Book Awards. The awards were hosted by the State Library of Western Australia and celebrated the amazing and diverse talent of WA writers. Josh was awarded the $15,000 prize for his debut novel Banjawarn.
The judges described Banjawarn as "a white knuckle, psychedelic road trip through the Eastern Goldfields. Josh Kemp's characters are haunted by addiction, secrets and spectres of the past as they travel through arid landscapes and ghost towns seeking redemption in the outback."
Watch the award announcement and find out more here.
Banjawarn was published by UWA Publishing in 2022 following Josh's win of the 2021 Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. The WA Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer marks the third award that Josh has won for his debut novel Banjawarn.
Banjawarn was the winner of the 2021 Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, the winner of the 2022 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction, and has now won the 2023 WA Premier’s Prize for an Emerging Writer.
Congratulations Josh!