Express Media and Deakin University are excited to announce the winner of the 2021 Deakin Nonfiction Prize is Carly Stone.

Stone’s piece A Fox Runs Out of a Bush, Jumps in the Air, and Disappears ‘is a beautiful essay on insomnia, perception, and truth. Carly’s sharp, original voice deeply engrossed us in unfamiliar topics. Their use of insomnia as a vehicle to investigate the core of living or not living, doing or not doing, being or not being, was extremely clever, and at times it was funny because of the pain, comforting because of the alien-hood, familiar in its strangeness. The contrasts and extremes that Carly’s writing operates with is truly a pleasure to read over and over again, to then summon and reflect on at 4am,’ say Prize Judges,  Lur Alghurabi, Briohny Doyle and Mira Schlosberg.

Stone has won $1500 and an editorial mentorship to develop their work further with Publisher of Monash University Publishing Julia Carlomagno. 

‘This essay is the furthest extension of my experimental practice so far,’ says Carly Stone about their piece. ‘I’m thrilled to see it recognised in this way, and I’m looking forward to developing my practice during the editorial mentorship. Express Media has fostered such an exciting community of young writers. It’s a privilege to be a part of it.’

Carly was announced at a special online event today hosted by Deakin University Prize Judge Lur Alghurabi. We heard from a selection of the shortlisted writers reading their work for the first time. This event was recorded and can now be enjoyed on YouTube below!

Watch the event here

We congratulate Carly and look forward to their future literary endeavours!

Carly Stone is a writer and editor living on Wurundjeri Country. You can find their writing in Meanjin Quarterly, Going Down Swinging, The Lifted Brow and Cordite, among others. Carly is interested in insomnia, affect and nonsense. They are an Editor at Voiceworks Online.

 

Congratulations to all our shortlisted writers!