Caroline Van de Pol, author of Back to Broady, will be holding an author talk next week to launch ‘The Margaret Egan Young Writer’s Award’ named in honour of her late sister. The award has been established to commemorate her sister’s life, and to support a young person (aged 15 to 18 years) in order to pursue their passion for writing.

Van de Pol hopes the award will honour her sister, who passed away tragically at the age of 25, and the love her sister had for the Arts. ‘Writing helped her during difficult periods as she lived with the challenges of schizophrenia and overwhelming grief following the early death of our parents.’ Van der pol elaborated.

Prize money to the value of $1500 will be distributed between two winners, categorised into two age brackets. The prize is funded and administered by Caroline van de Pol herself, and she has been working closely with Writer’s Victoria to develop the award which will be announced as part of the Broadmeadows Festival program in April next year.

Van de Pol hopes the award will encourage young writers to pursue their dreams; ‘Throughout my life, I have had the benefit of great support in teachers, university lecturers and career mentors so I’m hoping that maybe I can help someone else to dream big, to support and encourage them as they ‘have a go’ at something new.’

Workshops to mentor and aid young writers in preparing their submission will be held on Tuesday 9 and 30 October at the Council Chambers downstairs from Broadmeadows Library. Caroline wishes to offer the same level of support she has received over her many years as a writer to anyone aspiring.

With a focus on community the winner(s) would also be promoted to highlight the positive aspects of the diverse community of the Broadmeadows region, celebrating the contributions of young people committed to achieving their best.

The Author Talk to launch the inaugural Margaret Egan Young Writers Award will be held on Friday 14 September at 11am at Broadmeadows Library.