Author’s author comes up with a brand new title 

A WRITER’S author, who has grow to be equally well-known as a novelist and a tireless advocate for the humanities, was named “CityNews Canberra Artist of the 12 months” on the thirty second annual ACT Arts Awards night, held within the Canberra Museum & Gallery this night (November 22).

Nigel Featherstone was singled out for his eloquent writing and as a relentless champion for his fellow Canberra writers and lovers of the written phrase.

“CityNews” editor Ian Meikle offered him with a certificates, prize cash of $1000 and a F!nk studio jug.

Declaring himself “completely honoured”, Featherstone stated: “I’ve lived within the ACT area for over three many years and it’s grow to be my artistic house in addition to my geographic house. 

“The mixture of our unbelievable arts and cultural establishments and relative peace and quiet has been important to my work as a author.”

Featherstone, whose novel “My Coronary heart is a Little Wild Factor” was revealed by Ultimo Press in Might this 12 months, has been lavished with reward by critics round Australia for taking a outstanding take a look at Australian masculinity, for the complexity and contradiction of the work and for its lyrical evocation of the “magnificent” Monaro, through which the novel is about. 

The lyricism of his novel impressed British artist and composer BP Moore to launch a composition known as “Monaro” in June this 12 months.

Quiet and erudite, Featherstone is a self-described “pure hermit”. A former officer at artsACT, he deserted the general public service in 2010 to grow to be a full-time author and has since revealed three novels, three novellas, a play, a libretto, no less than 50 brief tales, and round 120 non-fiction articles and essays, together with tales about being an artist in regional Australia.

In 2021 he joined Canberra-region poets Melinda Smith and CJ Bowerbird to discovered the spoken-word/music collective “Hell Herons”, which fuses lyrical language with songs.

In 2022 he labored at The Avenue Theatre as a dramaturg on CJ Bowerbird’s “Coward Punch” and as discussion board host for “Twenty Minutes With The Satan”. 

His first full-length play, “The Story of the Oars”, was learn in December 2021 as a part of The Avenue’s “First Seen” program.

Though he has lived in Goulburn for the previous 12 years, he identifies as a Canberra artist, is an energetic arts advocate and commentator within the ACT and has labored at ACT Writers since 2013, supporting and mentoring rising writers, additionally connecting artists and neighborhood.

A well-known face on the broader Australian arts circuit, in August this 12 months he was on the ultimate panel on the Canberra Writers Competition and traversed northern NSW as a part of the “Writers on the Highway” regional tour. Then in October he led two residencies for the Terror Australis Writers Competition in Huon Valley, Tasmania.

Earlier within the night on the ACT Arts Awards, the Helen Tsongas Award for Excellence in Appearing was offered by Canberra Theatre director, Alex Budd, to Karen Vickery.

The awards night, hosted by the Canberra Critics Circle, additionally featured the circle’s personal awards to ACT area artists dwelling inside a 100-kilometre radius of Canberra, which went to:

• Movie producer, Shannon Wilson-McClinton.

• Writers, Nigel Featherstone, Marion Halligan, Sandi Logan, Tabitha Carvan, Sarah St Vincent Welch and Kimberly Okay Williams.

• Visible artists, Rory Gillen, Michael Armstrong, Judith Nangala Crispin, Annette Blair, Maryke Henderson, Anita McIntyre and Valerie Kirk & Harriet Schwarzrock.

• Dance artists, Ali Mayes, Jake Silvestro, Danny Riley, Australian Dance Get together, and Ausdance ACT.

• Musical artists, Pip Thompson, Fred Smith, Luminescence Chamber Singers, Ronan Apcar, Rachel McNally & Michael Dooley and Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

• Musical theatre artists, Andrew Finnegan, Echo Theatre Firm, Stephanie Bailey, Ylaria Rogers and Rachel Reid (Jazida).

• Theatre artists, Meaghan Stewart, Jarrad West, Chrissie Shaw, Max Gambale, Christopher Samuel Carroll, Dylan Van Den Berg, Amy Kowalczuk and Andrea Shut.