And the winner of the Romance Media Award for 2020 is…
Romance fiction: a massive but ‘largely invisible’ cultural export – Caitlin Fitzsimmons.
Published in the Sydney Morning Herald, 18 January 2020
2020 Finalists:
I write romance because two things can save the world: love and books – Tanya Nellestein
Published in the Sydney Morning Herald, 6 February 2020
Romance fiction got us through the GFC and World War II. Here’s why it could help us during COVID-19 – Emma Noble and Sian Johnson
Published ABC News, 29 March 2020
Previous years’ winners:
2019 – Lauren Sams (ELLE Magazine) – “The New Romantics”
2018 – Libby-Jane Charleston (Huffington Post) article & podcast (1hr) “Romance Thriving in the Tinder Age”
2017 – Hsu-Ming Teo – “Love and the Land: Early Australian Rural Romances” AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S HISTORY BLOG
2016 –
- Danielle Binks, whose piece “It Takes a Village to Write Romance: The Surprising Rise of Collaborative Fiction” boldly went where no-one had gone before—right into the heart of a celebrated literary website.
- The Wheeler Centre’s “The F Word: Romance” with their YouTube podcast of the live stage discussion (featuring author Kate Bell, commentator Kat Mayo and academic Beth Driscoll) on feminism in romance.
- Danielle Binks, for her thorough examination of romance writers whose professional anonymity is compromised– ‘By Any Other Name: The Secret Lives of Romance Authors”
2015 – Danielle Binks on Fairfax Media’s women’s website DailyLife.com.au for her piece Things No One Tells You About Romance Readers
2014 – Kat Mayo of Bookthingo on The Drum, on ABC Online,for her piece, titled “Dear columnists, romance fiction is not your bitch.”
2013 – Happily Ever After by John Affleck (Photos by Brendan Radke)– Gold Coast Bulletin
2012 – The Romance Queens–Susan Horsburgh–The Australian Women’s Weekly
2011 – Simon Royal – ‘The Changing Face of Romance’ 28/08/2010
2010 – My Secret Art Life: Romance Writer, Robert Hayward, Art Nation, ABC Arts & Entertainment
“I really enjoyed making this piece, and am happy that both Alison and the RWA understood the spirit in which it was made. We tried to have a bit of fun, but simultaneously show the dedication and craft that go into writing romance. Of course, Alison was the ideal character to help us achieve these aims.”
Robert Hayward.
2009 – Lisa Chant & Michelle McLochlan of The Weekender, Sunshine Coast Publishing Pty. Ltd. ( 22/1/ 2009) “True Romantic”
2008 – Martin King, (A Current Affair ) for the interview he did with Ally Blake, aired on Thurs 27th December 2007
2007 – Kate Cuthbert, The Courier-Mail
The winner was chosen because the journalist has brought her in-depth knowledge of romance publishing and the romance writing community to a wide general audience, demonstrating over time the huge variety and range of fiction that is romance, and thereby challenging assumptions about the genre.
2006 – Alexandra Carlton, Madison Magazine, November 2005 Feature Article