Curtin graduate Clem Moriscot has been shortlisted for the National 2015 Scribe Nonfiction Prize for Young Writers, for her piece In My Own Tongue.
The award recognises talented young writers in all areas of nonfiction and provides professional development for a young writer under 30 on a long-form or book-length work.
In My Own Tongue tells Moriscot’s journey as she figures out her identity as a writer, or more specifically, as a French native writing in English.
“I have always been fascinated with translation and how there are bound to be things lost between two languages, and yet understanding another language broadened my horizon in surprising ways. There is also the idea that I feel slightly different in either language, and I wanted to research and understand what that meant.”
Moriscot graduated from Curtin University last year with a Master of Media and Communication (Professional Writing and Publishing), with an undergraduate degree from the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III) in the English language and Literature/Letters.
Her passion for writing began at a young age.
“I realised I loved writing when I had an assignment to write a tale in year 7. I invested myself completely, submitted late, and had the most fun ever. My teacher wrote, ‘a future writer, maybe?’ on the front page, and that has kept me going ever since.”
The shortlist was announced at The Personal in Nonfiction event at The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne on 2 November. The event was hosted by Tom Doig with a panel featuring Robbie Arnott, Briohny Doyle and Sian Campbell.
The final winner is chosen by the Scribe editorial team and will receive a cash prize of $1,500, a year’s ‘reading subscription’ to Scribe’s Nonfiction titles and up to 10 hours of editorial time with a Scribe editor or publisher. Scribe’s publisher, Henry Rosenbloom, will announce the winner of the prize at the Express Media Awards on 3 December in Melbourne.
