DOLORES by Lauren Aimee Curtis is shortlisted for the 2020 UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing

Congratulations to Lauren Aimee Curtis on being shortlisted for the 2020 UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing! Awarded annually in Australia by the State Library of New South Wales, as part of the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, the prize ($5,000) seeks to recognise outstanding new literary talent.

Selected praise for DOLORES (2019, Weidenfeld & Nicolson):

'[A] taut and moody novella about desire, female power and religion. [...] Curtis skilfully narrates the eight months that follow. In beautifully distilled scenes we move between life with the eccentric and tender nuns, and Dolores's childhood. [...] In burnished prose, Curtis raises potent questions about how women control their bodies and destinies when subject to institutional forces.' Judges of the 2020 UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing

'Dolores is propulsive, atmospheric, wonderfully peculiar, a little dark. A dreamy hallucination.' Amina Cain       

​'We’ve all read about grooming, about how vulnerable girls are coaxed and exploited by predatory “boyfriends”. Dolores (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), a sharp and witty first novel by Australian writer Lauren Aimee Curtis, plaits together an illuminating account of the process with an irreverent after-story set in a Spanish convent.' Lucy Hughes-Hallett, New Statesman 'Books of the Year 2019'

‘Dolores reads the way a first novel should: short, lyrical, intense, and with adventurous ambition.' Nell Zink

‘Dolores is a glowing, beating heart of a book; Curtis’ sentences manage to be both mysterious and precise, creating a potent atmosphere that resonates beyond its brevity.’ Megan Hunter

The winner will be announced on 27th April. More info here.