Ella Pilson has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Steph Bowe Mentorship for Young Writers. The mentorship is designed to encourage an exciting new writer in Australian children’s literature under the age of twenty-five. It is awarded to the Text Prize entrant the judging panel believes would receive the most benefit from the mentorship.
Ella will be paired with an author for a twenty-hour mentorship to develop her manuscript, RIBS. She will also receive a twelve-month membership with Express Media, Voiceworks and Writers Victoria.
Ella Pilson is an author-in-progress based in Naarm (Melbourne). She was shortlisted for the Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers in 2020 and is a recent graduate of RMIT’s Associate Degree of Professional Writing & Editing. Her pieces have appeared in RMIT’s Catalyst and on ArtsHub.
RIBS is a contemporary coming-of-age novel about a queer sixteen-year-old artist called Leila who must navigate a new school and new relationships after a bullying incident.
Senior editor Penny Hueston said, ‘We are very proud to continue to support the Steph Bowe Mentorship in honour of the life and work of a wonderful writer.’
The mentorship was established in memory of Steph Bowe’s longstanding commitment to fostering and mentoring young writers. Steph’s own first book was published when she was sixteen. She became a highly sought-after speaker, who encouraged young writers and travelled around the country to visit schools and festivals. Her books were longlisted for multiple awards, and Night Swimming was named a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book.
The mentorship is an initiative from Text Publishing delivered in partnership with LoveOzYA. It is supported by Express Media and the National Writers’ Centre Network. Previous winners of the mentorship were Ellie Casey and Emilie Morscheck (2021) and Claire Matthews (2022).
Entries for the 2024 Text Prize will open in early 2024.
For all administration enquiries and further information about the Steph Bowe Mentorship, please contact Nikki Boltz: nikki.boltz@textpublishing.com.au
