William Kostakis (born 2 June 1989) is an Australian author and journalist. In high school, he won the ''
Sydney Morning Herald'' Young Writer of the Year prize for a short story called 'Bing Me'. He went on to sign his first book deal in his final year of high school.
Works
Young adult novels
* ''Loathing Lola'' (2008)
* ''The First Third'' (2013)
* ''The Sidekicks'' (2016)
* ''Monuments'' (2019)
* ''Rebel Gods'' (2020)
* ''The Greatest Hit'' (2020)
* ''We Could Be Something '' (2023)
Chapter books
* ''Stuff Happens: Sean'' (2014)
Short stories
* 'Bing Me' (
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
, 2005)
* 'An Alternate Life' (''The Star Observer'', 2016)
* 'The Bounce Back' (''The Star Observer'', 2016)
* 'Hatchet' (''The Book That Made Me'', 2016)
* 'I Can See The Ending' (''Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology'', 2017)
Young adult novels
Loathing Lola (2008)
His first novel for young adults, ''Loathing Lola'', was released in August 2008 through Pan Macmillan under his birth name William Kostakis. Kostakis scored his first publishing contract at 17, while still completing his final year of high school,
Newington College
, motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge
, location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, pushpin_map = A ...
. He began work on a variant of ''Loathing Lola'' when he was 11 years old, and has since been refining it. The novel has been a critical success, dubbed a "kickass debut", "a smart, sharp tale about fame, love and loss" by ''Australian DOLLY Magazine'', "brilliant" by ''The Examiner'', "a promising debut from a young and talented Australian writer" by Danielle Trabsky at ''Australian Book Review'', "polished" and "extremely funny" by Mike Shuttleworth at the State Library of Victoria, "highly entertaining" by Angela Meyer at LiteraryMinded, "a witty tale of trust, teenage friendship, school politics, family relationships and teenage love that is propelled by regular humour, satirical characters and loads of drama... a popular addition to the mid-teen market" by Allison Paterson at ''Magpies Magazine'', and rated four stars by Anastasia Gonis at ''Good Reading Magazine'', who said, "The story sparkles through the humorous dialogue of a cast of cleverly chosen characters".
Awards and recognition
His second novel, ''The First Third'' won the 2014
Inky Awards
The Inky Awards recognise high-quality young adult literature, with the longlist and shortlist selected by young adults, and the winners voted for online by the teen readers of the Inside a Dog website. There are two awards: the Gold Inky Award fo ...
, and was shortlisted for the
CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers and
Prime Minister's Literary Awards
The Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards (PMLA) were announced at the end of 2007 by the incoming First Rudd ministry following the 2007 election. They are administered by the Minister for the Arts.[Queensland Literary Awards
The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLA ...]
. ''We Could Be Something'' was shortlisted for the 2024
Victorian Premier's Prize for Writing for Young Adults.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kostakis, Will
1989 births
People educated at Newington College
21st-century Australian novelists
Australian male novelists
Australian people of Greek descent
Living people
Writers from New South Wales
21st-century Australian male writers
Australian male short story writers
21st-century Australian short story writers
Australian LGBT novelists
Australian gay writers