Awards and Praise for works by Tess Merlin
Queensland Literary Awards Finalist 2025
Red Dirt Blue Lights was selected as a finalist for the Courier Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award.
Judges’ comments:
Set in 1970s rural Queensland around the Indigenous community of Cherbourg, a young and inexperienced policewoman juggles her responsibilities with her sensitivities towards the harsh realities of discrimination, racism and authoritarianism. Well researched and drawing on the real-life experiences of the author, this novella received close scrutiny and approbation by Aboriginal Elder Uncle Eric Law AM.
2nd Place 2023
Longlist 2023 Gold Coast Writers Short Story Competition ‘A Street in Your Town’