THE inaugural winners of the Australian National Capital Artists writing prizes are Claire Capel-Stanley, Ham Darroch and Caren Florance, it was announced on Wednesday by ANCA chair Nigel Lendon.

The announcement followed a decision to support art writing and criticism in the ACT region in two different ways, through the ANCA Critic in Residence Award and the ANCA Writing Prizes.

Jessica Oliver was the ANCA Critic in Residence from March to June 2015, and during this time wrote her reviews and essays featured in many publications and on the ANCA website. She is now a member of the Canberra Critics’ Circle.

Submissions were sought by ANCA for three categories: a critical review (published or unpublished) of an exhibition held at ANCA Gallery in 2015; a catalogue essay written for an ANCA Gallery exhibition in 2015 or an exhibition held in 2015 which features an ANCA Studio Artist; and an essay, published or unpublished, written on a theme of relevance to contemporary art by a writer resident in the Canberra region in 2015.

The judges, writer Nigel Featherstone, curator Deborah Clark and artist/writer Lendon and ANCA gallery manager Annika Harding awarded one prize in the catalogue essay category and two prizes in the essay category.

They noted that the lack of critical reviews entered, suggesting this reflected “a need for more criticism and candid reviewing in the ACT region.”

The winning entries in Australian National Capital Artists writing Prize can be seen at anca.net.au