And the winner of the T.A.G. Hungerford is …

Subiaco resident Robert Edeson is the winner of the 2012 T.A.G. Hungerford Award for his unpublished manuscript, The Weaver Fish.

Mr Edeson is the 11th author to join the elite group of literary talents to have won the award.

Edeson said winning the Hungerford was an amazing transition because he was just about to go on long service leave from his day job as an anaesthetist.

‘What a wonderful way to start. I just can’t believe it,’ said Edeson.

Judge and Fremantle Press publisher Georgia Richter said Edeson’s manuscript was a standout in a strong field.

‘It is deeply original, frequently surprising, intelligent and witty. This is a book with good guys and bad guys, simultaneously action-packed, lighthearted and thought-provoking,’ said Richter.

The field of 48 manuscripts was of such an exceptionally high standard that the judges increased the size of the shortlist from three to six: Murray Jennings for The Moondella Drive-In; Zoe Deleuil for The Back Shed; Susan Sullivan for Reasons for Song; Martin Chambers for How I became the Mr Big of People Smuggling; and Vivien Stuart for Acacia House.

Edeson receives a $12,000 cash prize donated by the Friends and Family of the late Bill Warnock, and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press.

The judging panel included writingWA Chair, Associate Professor Delys Bird, leading West Australian writers Susan Midalia and Richard Rossiter, and Adult Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction Publisher at Fremantle Press, Georgia Richter.

The 2012 T.A.G. Hungerford Award is presented with the support of the Friends and Family of the late Bill Warnock, in partnership with writingWA, Fremantle Press and The West Australian newspaper.

The 2010 T.A.G. Hungerford Award was won by Jacqueline Wright for her manuscript of the just-released novel Red Dirt Talking.