MUBA19 – Meet the judges.

We’re very pleased to introduce you to the new judging panel for the Most Underrated Book Award (MUBA).

Melissa Cranenburgh is a writer, broadcaster, editor and educator. She spent more than a decade in senior editing roles, including associate editor and acting editor of The Big Issue, and co-editor of the magazine’s annual fiction edition. She now teaches in RMIT’s Professional Writing and Editing diploma, and hosts Triple R’s flagship weekly book show, Backstory.

Jane Rawson has written two novels – A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists (which won the Most Underrated Book Award in 2014) and From the Wreck, both published by Transit Lounge – and a novella, Formaldehyde (Seizure). She is the co-author of The Handbook: Surviving and Living with Climate Change (Transit Lounge). Her short fiction and essays are in Sleepers, Overland, Tincture, Seizure, Griffith Review, Meanjin and Review of Australian Fiction.

Jackie Tang is a freelance writer and editor. She has reviewed books for Triple R, Kill Your Darlings and Books+Publishing, where she was previously editor-in-chief. She currently works as a the online coordinator and prize manager at Melbourne bookseller Readings.

The judging process for the 2019 MUBA will begin very soon. Look out for the shortlist in a few months’ time, and the winner will be announced on the evening of Thursday 21 November as part of the Independent Publishing Conference.

We’d like to thank the outgoing MUBA judging panel – Sarah L’Estrange, Megan O’Brien and Toni Jordan – for their sterling work.