Palimpsest by Florina Enache, Australia’s 2022 Novel Prize contender

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Palimpsest by Florina Enache, Australia’s 2022 Novel Prize contender

12 February 2023

Close up of typewriter keys, photo by Valerio Errani

The winner of the 2022 Novel Prize is due to be announced any day now. The award is a collaboration between Australian publishing house Giramondo, and international counterparts Fitzcarraldo Editions in Britain, and New Directions in the United States. Celebrating works of literary fiction that “are innovative and imaginative in style,” the Novel Prize is presented every two years, for unpublished manuscripts, regardless of whether the author has prior published work or not.

The inaugural prize was won by Melbourne based Australian author Jessica Au for her second book, Cold Enough for Snow, in 2020, which also won this year’s Victorian Prize for Literature.

But in 2023 the big question is, can another Australian writer take out the award, and make it two in a row for Australian literature? While that may be wishful thinking, the odds are the same as in 2020, with only one Australian author, Florina Enache, on the 2022 shortlist, for her manuscript Palimpsest. As a coincidence though, another of the Novel Prize 2020 shortlisted writers, Glenn Diaz, a Manila based Pilipino writer, happened to be studying in Australia at the time.

Enache, who like Au calls Melbourne home, was born in Romania, and immigrated to Australia in 2005. Her first book, An-Tan-Tiri Mogodan, published by Adelaide Books in August 2019, is a collection of twelve short stories, depicting ordinary life in a totalitarian regime. An-Tan-Tiri Mogodan went on to be shortlisted in the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards for new writing.

Totalitarian regimes seem to be a recurring theme in Enache’s work. Palimpsest is set in the days prior to the observance of a holiday called National Day. Participation is mandated by the nation’s oppressive government, and citizens are required to attend observances, referred to as “the great spectacle”, in the capital city.

Should Enache follow in Au’s footsteps and be named winner of the Novel Prize, her manuscript will be published by the three Novel Prize collaborating book publishers. In addition, Enache — or whoever the winner is — will receive US$10,000 in the form of an advance against royalties.

One Divine Night, by Mick Cummins, unpublished manuscript winner

11 February 2023

Two fountain pens on a dark brown desk, photo by Todabasura

Image courtesy of Todabasura.

Last week, former part-time social worker Mick Cummins was named winner of the unpublished manuscript prize in this year’s Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.

While the prize comes with a handy fifteen thousand dollars in cash, the real payoff is the profile the win generates. After One Divine Night was included on the Victorian Premier’s shortlist in December 2022, Melbourne based Cummins says a number of publishers contacted him, asking to see the manuscript.

An approach from a publisher expressing interest in their work is a dream come true for any aspiring writer. More usually, a novice author might spend years trying to get a publisher or literary agent to take an interest in their idea.

The value of recognition like this cannot be overstated. In fact, I’d be willing to bet an unpublished writer, given the choice, would simply prefer to be named winner of an unpublished manuscript award — especially one of the Victorian Premier’s standing — and forego the prize money.

That’s because the majority of past prize winners have eventually seen their work published. Anam, by André Dao, winner of the unpublished manuscript prize in 2021, will be published by Penguin Books Australia in May 2023. Hovering, by Rhett Davis, the 2020 winner, was published by Hachette Australia in 2022.

Cummins’ odds of seeing One Divine Night in print have shortened considerably. Of his manuscript, Victorian Premier’s judges hailed Cummins’ writing as a gritty portrayal of homelessness and substance dependency on the streets of Melbourne:

The manuscript depicts drug abuse, overdose, soliciting and physical violence without relying on stereotypes or cliché. The experience of homelessness in inner city Melbourne — long overdue — is explored with nuance and depth, with elements of the storytelling recalling Mark Brandis The Rip. The relationship between Aaron and his mother is particularly memorable — unexpected yet realistic — providing emotional complexity to the narrative. The character of The Man introduces a dark, almost-crime fiction feel, driving the plot and enabling Cummins to critique (although not quite satire) the predatory nature of established male power.

Despite winning the unpublished manuscript prize, Cummins is no stranger to writing. He has written two plays previously, Window without a View, was staged at Hobart’s now closed Theatre Royal Backspace, and Perfect Madness, which showed at the Carlton Court House in Melbourne.

Cummins has also written number of Australian produced documentary screenplays. These include Thomson of Arnhem Land, The Woodcutter’s Son, and Portrait of a Distant Land. He also wrote screenplays for two docudramas, Monash: The Forgotten Anzac, and Menzies and Churchill at War, which both aired in 2008. Presently, another of Cummins’ scripts, for a film called The Hut, is in pre-production.

In a sense, Cummins’ writing career is the reverse trajectory of many other authors. They will write a book and, perhaps later, see the work adapted to other mediums, usually screen or stage.

When it comes to writing, Cummins started out with stage and screen work, and has now turned to book writing. With the praise One Divine Night has been accorded though, I wouldn’t be surprised to one day see the story as a film or play adaptation. After it has been published a book first of course.

Entries open for 2023 Australian/Vogel Young Writers Award

8 February 2023

The Australian/Vogel’s Award for Young Writers has launched the career of many an Australian author, including Emma Batchelor, Katherine Brabon, and Murray Middleton. Entries are open for the 2023 award, to Australian citizens or permanent residents, who are under the age of thirty-five as of 31 May 2023, the date entries close. To be eligible, manuscripts must contain between fifty-thousand and eighty-thousand words.

2023 Val Vallis Award for unpublished poetry entries open

8 February 2023

Entries are open for the 2023 Val Vallis Award for an unpublished poem, until Sunday 26 February 2023. Named in honour of late Queensland poet, lecturer, and opera critic Valentine Vallis, who died in 2009, the award recognises unpublished works, by Australian poets, of no more than eighty lines.

Dan Hogan, a poet based on the NSW Central Coast, won the 2022 award with a work titled Aduantas.

Update: the 2023 award winner was named on Tuesday 2 May 2023.

Limberlost by Robbie Arnott longlisted in 2023 Dylan Thomas Prize

7 February 2023

Tasmania based Australian author Robbie Arnott, has been longlisted in the 2023 Dylan Thomas Prize, for his 2022 novel, Limberlost. Established in 2006, the Dylan Thomas Prize recognises the best published English language literary work, written by an author aged 39 or under, globally.

The shortlist will be announced on Thursday 23 March 2023, with the winner being named at the awards ceremony on Thursday 11 May 2023.

Another reason to add Limberlost to your TBR list.

Lystra Rose’s 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards speech

7 February 2023

Queensland based Australian author Lystra Rose won the Indigenous Writing Award for her debut novel The Upwelling, at the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, which were presented last week in Melbourne. Take a few minutes to listen to her acceptance speech:

I was the first person in my Indigenous family to be counted as human under Australian law. Let me say that again. When I was born I was the first person in my Indigenous family to be counted human under Australian law.

Remarkable words. Read them again.

Victorian Premier’s Literary Award 2023 winners announced

2 February 2023

The Victorian Premier’s Literary Award 2023 winners were announced at an awards ceremony held at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre this evening. Twenty-seven titles were included on the shortlist last December, across seven categories. Winners in each category, together with the People’s Choice Award, and Victorian Prize for Literature, are as follows:

People’s Choice Award: Astronomy, Sky Country by Karlie Alinta Noon and Krystal De Napoli
Fiction: Cold Enough for Snow, by Jessica Au
Non-fiction: Root & Branch: Essays on inheritance by Eda Gunaydin
Drama: The Return by John Harvey
Poetry: At The Altar of Touch by Gavin Yuan Gao
Young Adult Writing: We Who Hunt The Hollow by Kate Murray
Indigenous Writing: The Upwelling by Lystra Rose
Unpublished Manuscript: One Divine Night by Mick Cummins
Cold Enough for Snow, by Jessica Au, was named 2023 winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature

The Victorian Prize for Literature is the centrepiece of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, and is valued at A$100,000 making it Australia’s single richest literary prize.

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The Dublin Literary Award 2023 longlist

31 January 2023

Seventy books, published in thirty-one countries, have been named on the Dublin Literary Award 2023 longlist. After Story by Sydney based author and filmmaker Larissa Behrendt, Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down, winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin award, and Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au, are among Australian titles to be included.

Formerly known as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, before being renamed in 2015, the Dublin Literary Award was established in 1994 to celebrate excellence in world literature. Awarded annually, novels either written in, or translated into English, can be nominated by participating libraries globally. A shortlist of ten book will be announced in March 2023, with the winner being named later this year, in June.

More promotion of Australian literary awards benefits authors

28 January 2023

Louise Adler, director of Adelaide Writers’ Week, talking to Katrina Strickland, editor of Good Weekend, laments the lack of wider excitement generated by literary awards in Australia:

“We adore it when our authors win awards but, actually, often they do not translate into sales,” she says, pointing to the way the UK book industry gets behind the Booker Prize longlisted and shortlisted authors. “When the longlist for the Booker is announced the books on it are heavily promoted, booksellers get behind it, publishers get behind it, and then the shortlist is promoted heavily, too. And there’s lots and lots of discussion about them.”

It’s unfortunate Australian literary awards don’t have quite the same buzz surrounding them as the Booker Prize in the UK appears to. While the shortlists, and winners of prizes such as the Stella and Miles Franklin, make headlines when announced, they soon fall out of the news cycle.

No doubt the larger population of the UK, compared to Australia, makes a difference, and Australian authors recognised by local literary awards see a spike in book sales. Still, I doubt it’s anything like the “Booker boost” that writers named on the long and shortlists — and of course, the winner — of the Booker, enjoy.

The Novel Prize for literary fiction 2022 shortlist

21 January 2023

UPDATE: the winners of the 2022 Novel Prize have been announced.

The Novel Prize is a biennial award for works of literary fiction, co-convened by three publishers, Giramondo, Fitzcarraldo Editions, and New Directions, based in Australia, Britain and Ireland, and America, respectively. Earlier this week, eight writers, some published, some not, were named on the shortlist for the 2022 prize:

Anonymity is Life, Sola Saar
Aurora Australis by Marie Doezema
Forever Valley by Darcie Dennigan
It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken
Moon Over Bucharest by Valer Popa
Palimpsest by Florina Enache
Tell by Jonathan Buckley
The Passenger Seat by Vijay Khurana

Some seven hundred entries were received this year’s award. Of the field, Florina Enache is the only Australian writer to make the cut. Australian author Jessica Au won the inaugural Novel Prize in 2020 for Cold Enough for Snow, which was published, as part of the award, in 2022. The 2022 winner will be announced next month, in February.

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