The world famous Natalie Yates has emailed me to confirm that I've won a 2003 Dilly Award.

This might seem awfully smug, but it's no surprise to me that this blog is winning awards. I started SoFo on December 29, 2001, and won my first prize in the late afternoon of December 30, 2001. That one was for Best Debut (South Eastern Division) in a hotly contested competition between me and one other person who died in mysterious circumstances. Just after lunchtime, as I recall.

By early January, 2002, the prizes and awards started coming in regularly. That month alone saw me win the Prix d'Honneure, the Melbourne University Alumni Medal, and the Golden Banjo. I was particularly pleased to win a Golden Banjo, because that one is awarded for services to folk music. It might be worth pointing out that that I didn't mention folk music for the first few months of SoFo, and when I did they tried to get the Golden Banjo back. I can't remember the details, but it seems that the Golden Banjo judging committee all died in mysterious circumstances. Just after lunchtime, as I recall.

So the Dilly Award is just one more tribute in a veritable flood of tributes.

Except for one thing. The Dilly Award is real.

Sure, I've won some honest to goodness prizes in SoFo's fifteen month history, but even a meticulously detailed list would only reveal two items. Even worse, those items are a compost bin and an elderly trestle table.

So winning an actual award is definitely on the exciting side of smugness. I feel quite chuffed, actually, and that'd be thanks to Natalie.