Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes Wins The Hungerford!

Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes has won the 2024 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award for የተስፋ ፈተና / Trials of Hope. Written in English and Amharic poetry and prose, this fascinating autobiographic work shares Yirga’s journey from boy shepherd in Ethiopia to human rights academic at Curtin University.

Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes. Refit Fremantle Press

Yirga is a writer, researcher and poet from Lalibela, Ethiopia, who now lives with his wife, writer Rebecca Higgie, in Bentley. Yirga said the manuscript’s English narrative was written over two years but the Amharic poems were written across decades, using Ethiopia’s indigenous script (Ge’ez Fidel). Yirga said, ’I love crossing multiple worlds and languages with a heart that bleeds with despair, and rejoices with love. Hope is a poetic force that carries me across these boundaries.’

Yirga said, ‘The thrill that comes with writing in my native language is immense. The Hungerford Award means an opening of hope, a realisation that stories and languages like mine could have places in a world where they are rarely heard. People who live carrying multiple worlds shouldn’t have to hide or sacrifice one world to exist in the other world. This too is our home; our stories can be heard.’

Here’s Yirga with the short-listed finalists and the Mayor, from L to R: Howard McKenzie-Murray, Fiona Wilkes, Jodie Tes, Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge

Mayor of Fremantle, Hannah Fitzhardinge, announced the win on Thursday 24 October 2024 at Fremantle Arts Centre. In her speech she recognised the impact of the Award for writers, and for Fremantle, revealing that the City had decided to continue its sponsorship for a further six years. Mayor Fitzhardinge said, ‘The City is proud to welcome another passionate and gifted writer into the Hungerford Award alumni and its 33-year heritage of identifying talented new storytellers. We love to provide emerging artists access to initiatives like this Award, which incubates, supports and grows their creative output.’

Judged anonymously, the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award is a biennial prize for an unpublished manuscript by a Western Australian author. The winner receives a cash prize of $15,000, a publishing contract with Fremantle Press, and a residency fellowship with the Centre for Stories.

Fremantle Press CEO Alex Allan said ‘Yirga’s story is extraordinary. It is a love song to his homeland that will inspire other Western Australians with a story to share.’

This year, more than 80 writers entered the award. The other manuscripts shortlisted were Far From Wonderful by Howard McKenzie-Murray (fiction), Screech by Jodie Tes (fiction) and I Remember Everything by Fiona Wilkes (fiction).

The 2024 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award was judged by Seth Malacari, Marcella Polain and Richard Rossiter, alongside Fremantle Press publishers Georgia Richter and Cate Sutherland.

Next week, Fremantle Shipping News will bring you a podcast interview with the author. Keep an eye out for it!

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