Will Kostakis Wins Prime Minister’s Literary Award With Queer YA Novel
Image: Author of 'We Could Be Something', Will Kostakis. Image: Will Kostakis - Author/Facebook
Queer author Will Kostakis has taken out the top prize for young adult literature at the Prime Minister鈥檚 Literary Awards.
The popular author won the award for his recent book We Could Be Something.
Along with the title he’s also walked away with $80,000 for his efforts.
Will Kostakis and We Could Be Something
Since his debut as an author Will Kostakis has had his share of success and failures.
With over seven published books under his belt he continues to tell compelling and dynamic stories, particularly in the queer young adult sector.
This week he was recognised for his most recent work, We Could Be Something.
The powerful intergenerational story has been awarded the young adult literature award at the Prime Minister鈥檚 Literary Awards, an honour that comes with an $80,000 prize to boot.
Kostakis has previously been nominated for the awards and was this year celebrated as one of the many winners sharing in over $600,000 in prize money.
Judges praised the quality of his work as a novelist when celebrating his achievement.
鈥�Kostakis writes with authenticity and insight about a teen novelist having his ego and creative spirit crushed when his first novel falters” they said.
鈥�The novel鈥檚 bittersweet conclusion avoids cliche and leaves the reader with something far more complex, realistic and lingering than a tidy ending.”
鈥�Kostakis balances the reader鈥檚 desire for satisfaction with this story鈥檚 demand for authenticity with enviable skill. This is a powerful novel with universal appeal, imbued with heart and wit, told with control and maturity.鈥�
We Could Be Something: Memoir meets fiction
We Could Be Something follows the story of Greek-Australian Harvey who has travelled to live with and work for his yiayia amidst the fall out of the divorce of his fathers.
Simultaneously the story also follows the life of his father Sotiris as a young aspiring author struggling with the limited success of his first book as he navigates new romance.
In some aspects the story mirrors his life as writer, with the book eventually intended as memoir before he pivoted to more of a work of fiction.
鈥�I took inspiration from my life 鈥� my small but potent Greek family, my experiences as a published author as a teenager, growing up in a caf茅 my mother ran 鈥� and from that a fictional story bloomed” he said .
“This book actually started as a series of interconnected memoir pieces, because I thought, 鈥淥kay, I鈥檓 going to get all the auto-fiction out of me. I鈥檓 just going to do all the memoir, and then I can write something completely fictional鈥� he told .
“And then, one, publishers were like, 鈥淣o, we don鈥檛 want that from you,鈥� and two, I always felt that urge to start fictionalising things and turning them into a really big story” he said.
The story also touches on his feelings of failure following the release of his first book at just nineteen years old and struggles that followed.
“I always wanted to take that experience of writing a first book and things not quite going to plan and writing about it 鈥� write about how ridiculous it felt to be a teenager writing for teenagers and having to tour and things like that. And the main thing is, I鈥檓 really glad that I failed.”
Last night was made all the more special because I got to share it with my A&U stablemates and .
鈥� 鉁� Will Kostakis 鉁� (@willkostakis)
