Emma Batchelor. Photo: Jesse Petrie.
A YOUNG writer who has long been part of Canberra’s arts community is the winner of the $20,000 Vogel Literary Award for 2021.
Emma Batchelor, 32, has won a publication deal with Allen & Unwin, which launched the Vogel in 1980, for her debut auto-fiction novel âNow That I See Youâ, based on her experiences when her partnerâs emerging transgender status shattered their relationship.
Batchelorâs connections to the Canberra arts community run deep.
Her mum, Wendy, has worked at the Canberra Theatre Centre for 14 years, while Emma has also worked at the box office there on and off for 13 years, and still does weekend shifts, while holding down a full-time job with advocacy organisation the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility.