The Furphy Anthology 2023
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley December 3, 2023
Author
Distributor: Hardie Grant Books
ISBN: 9781761450662
Publisher: Hardie Grant
Release Date: December 2023
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It is Furphy time again with the annual collection of short stories, The Furphy Anthology 2023 all based in and around Australian life, now available in discerning bookstores Australia wide.
The Furphy’s have been run each year since 1992.Each story must have only 5,000 words or less and be able to captivate a panel of Judges, who essentially have read it all before and are looking for something that is captivating, original and most importantly, entertaining.
Of the 620 entries for the 2023 Furphy’s three were selected to win awards, with sixteen stories published, all of which tell a tale or two about the idiosyncrasies of life, via the Furphy’s.
The winner of the 2023 completion is emerging Western Australian writer Jen Rewell for her quirky, charming, intriguing and whimsical Away to Me, a love story wrapped around Half Arthur, a somewhat magical creation, as he could teach a Roo to jump backwards, talk to animals and spin a very tall yarn.
He meets the love of his life Noleen, in a most unusual manner and from that time on, a beautiful love story of immense fascination evolves, which captures the heart and needs to be read, to truly understand what undying love involves. An absolutely unforgettable story.
Eugenie Pusenjak with The Drey, a stunning, controlled rage at social housing and the many issues that stop people attaining affordable housing in the modern day world of Australia, won second place.
Carefully and thoughtfully constructed, she has captured with realism the ever growing issue of people who are employed, separated from family, unable to find affordable accommodation to rent. The scorn of those who know but fail to understand. Building a Drey becomes something very important, something positive, something good and clean and far away from the depressing frustration of homelessness.
The Lucky Country by Natalie Vella takes third place. Stepping back in time to an Australia that was less tolerant of migrant workers, Liele is one of them. Her eyes slowly becoming affect by the work she has to do to earn money in this so called ‘lucky country’. Her skin brown, her hair black, her culture vastly different.
She and the other workers at the factory face corruption, bigotry, harassment and abuse of power on a daily basis, until they finally decide enough is enough. The power of women, of people pushed too far, of rightful anger is well told in a story that captures the helplessness, the frustration and the acceptance of people who feel they have no rights, no support, in a country that is not their own.
Thirteen other stories, each telling a tale of people, of life richer for the telling, make up a collection that will have a wide appeal and collectively make up The Furphy Anthology 2023.
For those who believe they have a great story to tell the The Furphy Literary Award is an annual competition that invites writers around Australia to submit a short story of 5,000 words or less. Originally established in 1992, the Furphy Literary Award was relaunched as a national prize in 2020.
The entry window in 2024 runs from February 1 – April 30. More information can be found here: https://www.furphystory.com.au/furphy-literary-award/open-short-story-competition/
The Award is named in honour of Australian writer Joseph Furphy, who wrote under the pen name Tom Collins and published Such is Life in 1903. It is administered by his great, great, great nephews Adam Furphy and Sam Furphy who still run the family business in Shepparton in northern Victoria.