A NOVEL that Edith Cowan University student Danielle Wood wrote for her postgraduate degree in creative writing has earnt her more than a doctorate, which she picked up on September 28.
Her novel The Alphabet of Light won last year’s $20,000 Australian/Vogel National Literary Award – Australia’s richest award for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of 35.
Allen and Unwin published the book in August.
It was originally inspired by Danielle’s great-great-grandfather Captain William Hawkins’ memoirs.
Captain Hawkins was a master mariner and Australia’s longest-serving lighthouse keeper.
The novel moves between contemporary and historic timeframes and is set mostly on Bruny Island off Tasmania’s southern coast but has some interludes in Perth.
