Showing all posts about literary awards
The Book Thief, Australia’s Eurovision book contest 2023 entry
22 May 2023
The Book Thief, the 2005 novel by Sydney based Australian author Markus Zusak, is Australia’s entry in the inaugural Eurovision book contest. Yes, you read that right. The Eurovision book contest, which is an initiative of the annual Hay Festival, a literary festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.
The victor will be decided by way of audience discussion on Friday 2 June 2023. A full list of contenders in the contest can be seen here.
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Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists 2023
22 May 2023
Katerina Gibson, George Haddad, and Jay Carmichael, have been named the Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists for 2023. The prize is presented annually for Australian writers under the age of thirty-five, each of whom will receive five thousand dollars.
Melbourne based author Grace Chan was among authors accorded an honourable mention, for her debut novel Every Version of You. Established in 1997, past recipients of the Best Young Australian Novelists prize include Alice Pung, Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Jennifer Down, and Robbie Arnott.
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Australian literature, literary awards
The 2023 Miles Franklin longlist
18 May 2023
The 2023 Miles Franklin longlist was unveiled yesterday. Considered to be one of Australia’s most prestigious literary awards, the Miles Franklin honours works of fiction by Australian writers, and is made up of the following eleven titles:
- Hopeless Kingdom by Kgshak Akec
- Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
- Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
- Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
- Enclave by Claire G. Coleman
- Losing Face by George Haddad
- Forty Nights by Pirooz Jafari
- Madukka The River Serpent by Julie Janson
- The Lovers by Yumna Kassab
- Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor
- Waypoints by Adam Ouston
In being included on this year’s longlist, Melbourne based author Jesscia Au continues on her upward trajectory, while Tasmanian writer Robbie Arnott is possibly only two steps away from garnering another accolade. But there’s also a number of not so familiar authors present, which is positive. This is looking like a wide open contest at the moment.
It’s also been another good year for independent publishers, particularly Sydney based Ultimo Press, who have three titles in the 2023 longlist. On the other hand, Allen & Unwin, one of Australia’s biggest publishing houses, is conspicuous by absence. In the past, being published by Allen & Unwin was considered a precursor of success in Australian literary awards.
The Miles Franklin shortlist will be announced on Tuesday 20 June 2023.
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Australian literature, fiction, literary awards, Miles Franklin
2023 WA Premier’s Book Awards shortlists
15 May 2023
Earlier today the 2023 WA Premier’s Book Awards shortlists were published.
The WA Premier’s Book Awards recognise the work of writers in Western Australia, in the same way the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, honour authors in those Australian states. It is refreshing to see some less familiar names featured today, as it can sometimes seem the same group of people crop up quite frequently — though for good reason — in various Australian literary awards.
The winners of the five WA Premier’s Book Awards categories will be announced in June 2023.
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Australian literature, literary awards
Poets Theodore Ell, Harry Reid, win 2022 Anne Elder Award
13 May 2023
Canberra based Australian translator and author Theodore Ell, and Melbourne based writer Harry Reid, have been named joint winners of the 2022 Anne Elder Award.
Established in 1977, the award is named for late Australian poet, and former Borovansky Ballet dancer, Anne Elder, who died in 1976, and is presented for the first published book by an Australian poet. Beginning in Sight, by Ell, and Leave Me Alone, by Reid, where published in 2022.
Ell was on a diplomatic posting in Lebanon in 2020, with his wife, at the time of the catastrophic Port of Beirut explosion. Although both survived the blast, the house they lived in was destroyed. Ell wrote an essay, Façades of Lebanon, about the incident, which won the 2021 Calibre Essay Prize.
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Australian literature, Harry Reid, literary awards, poetry, Theodore Ell
Barbara Kingsolver, Hernan Diaz win 2023 fiction Pulitzer Prize
9 May 2023
The Pulitzer Prize, which recognises excellence by American writers, be they journalists, magazine writers, and book authors, announced its 2023 recipients, early this morning, Australian time, with Barbara Kingsolver, and Hernan Diaz being named winners in the fiction category:
The Pulitzer prize for fiction was awarded on Monday to two class-conscious novels: Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver’s modern recasting of the Dickens classic David Copperfield, and Hernan Diaz’s Trust, an innovative narrative of wealth and deceit set in 1920s New York.
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literary awards, literature, Pulitzer Prize
Limberlost, Wandering With Intent, win 2023 Age Book of Year
4 May 2023
The Age Book of the Year Awards 2023 winners were announced this evening, at the opening of the 2023 Melbourne Writers Festival. The awards, presented annually, are made in two categories for Australian writing: fiction and non-fiction.
Limberlost, by Tasmanian author Robbie Arnott was named winner in the fiction category, while Wandering With Intent, by Wamboin, New South Wales based author and artist, Kim Mahood triumphed in the non-fiction category.
Arnott’s win today is his second in the awards. He also won in 2021, the year the prize returned after a nine year absence, with his 2020 novel The Rain Herron.
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Australian literature, books, Kim Mahood, literary awards, Robbie Arnott
Jarad Bruinstroop wins unpublished poetry 2023 Val Vallis Award
3 May 2023
Some late news to hand, Jarad Bruinstroop has been named winner of the 2023 Val Vallis Award for unpublished Australian poetry, with a poem titled Fragments on the Myth of Cy Twombly.
Bruinstroop’s debut collection of poetry, Reliefs, is due to be published by the University of Queensland Press later this year.
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Australian literature, Jarad Bruinstroop, literary awards, literature, poetry
The Jaguar by Sarah Holland-Batt wins 2023 Stella Prize
27 April 2023
It’s been a good couple of years for poetry at the Stella Prize. And for the University of Queensland Press (UQP). This evening Queensland born Australian author Sarah Holland-Batt was named winner of the 2023 award, with her collection of poetry, The Jaguar, published by UQP, in May 2022. Holland-Batt follows Evelyn Araluen, winner of the 2022 Stella with her collection of poetry, Dropbear, also published by UQP.
The Jaguar is Holland-Batt’s third book, and was written in the wake of her father being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and his later death in 2020:
With electrifying boldness, Sarah Holland-Batt confronts what it means to be mortal in an astonishing and deeply humane portrait of a father’s Parkinson’s Disease, and a daughter forged by grief. Opening and closing with startling elegies set in the charged moments before and after a death, and fearlessly probing the body’s animal endurance, appetites and metamorphoses, The Jaguar is marked by Holland-Batt’s lyric intensity and linguistic mastery, along with a stark new clarity of voice.
Alice Pung, chair of this year’s judging panel, describes Holland-Batt’s prose as “unexpected and unforgettable“:
In The Jaguar, Sarah Holland-Batt writes about death as tenderly as we’ve ever read about birth. She focuses on the pedestrian details of hospitals and aged care facilities, enabling us to see these institutions as distinct universes teeming with life and love. Her imagery is unexpected and unforgettable, and often blended with humour. This is a book that cuts through to the core of what it means to descend into frailty, old age, and death. It unflinchingly observes the complex emotions of caring for loved ones, contending with our own mortality and above all – continuing to live.
The Stella Prize is not the only accolade The Jaguar has garnered. It was named The Australian’s, 2022 Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize, which is part of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.
Update: see Holland-Batt’s Stella Prize acceptance speech here.
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Australian literature, Evelyn Araluen, literary awards, Sarah Holland-Batt, Stella Prize
Debut Writers Over 50, a literary award for mature authors
26 April 2023
Jenny Brown Associates, a literary agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland, announced the launch of a literary prize for emerging authors aged fifty and over, the Debut Writers Over 50 award, at this year’s London Book Fair. Speaking at the event, which was held last week, agency associate Lisa Highton said when it comes to starting out as a writer, youth should not be a prerequisite:
“The bestseller lists are full of debut novelists who are older, but the perception is that you have to be young when your first book comes out,” says literary agent Lisa Highton of Jenny Brown Associates. “But being a debut is not just about being a shiny, sparkly, young person. The reason we launched the award was to say to people over 50 yes, you too can be a shiny, sparkly, new writer – just older.”
This is a great initiative. I’m not sure how many literary awards cater for mature authors, but there sure seems to be plenty aimed at youth writers, and people aged under thirty-five. And that’s fine. Emerging younger writers need to be encouraged, since it’s difficult to become established in an industry dominated — usually — by, you know, older, big name authors, or those with several books to their name.
While the Debut Writers Over 50 award is for unpublished novelists residing in the United Kingdom, it’s good to see people commencing writing careers later in life being recognised. Submissions for the inaugural award close at the end of next month. A shortlist will be published on 27 July 2023, and the winner will be named on 26 August 2023, at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
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