Literary awards news related to fiction, poetry and drama produced in Australia or commonly seen as belonging in the Australian literature category are listed here. This includes many British and worldwide awards that also consider Australian literary works.
To see all the latest literary awards news, see the front page of The Burnt Ones: Literary Awards News.
2007 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize shortlists announced
Date: February 11, 2007 | Discussion: 1 Comment
The Commonwealth foundation has announced the regional shortlists for the 2007 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. The annual fiction prize that rewards writing from the British Commonwealth is selected by first judging books from four different regional groups (Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia, South East Asia and South Pacific) with each including two separate categories (Best Book, Best First Book), each worth £1,000. Once the regional winners in these categories are chosen, they are pitted against one another for the final prizes (£10,000 for Best Book and £5,000 for Best First Book).
This year’s nominees include Man Booker Prize shortlisted authors MJ Hyland, David Mitchell, James Robertson and Naeem Murr. The full list follows:
Africa - Best Book
Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson (South Africa)
What Kind of Child by Ken Barris (South Africa), Kwela Books
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
The Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Kenya)
Playing in the Light by Zoe Wicomb (South Africa)
Song of the Atman by Ronnie Govender (South Africa)
Africa - Best First Book
All We Have Left Unsaid by Maxime Case (South Africa)
Ice in the Lungs by Gerald Kraak (South Africa)
A Life Elsewhere by Segun Alofabi (Nigeria)
Room 207 by Kgebeti Moele (South Africa)
The Beggar’s Sign Writer by Louis Greenberg (South Africa)
The Shadow Follows by David Medalie (South Africa)
Canada and the Caribbean - Best Book
The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens (Canada)
Chutney Power by Willi Chen (Trinidad)
Fabrizio’s Return by Mark Frutkin (Canada)
The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud (Canada)
The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades by Nega Mezlekia (Canada)
The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro (Canada)
The Friends of Meager Fortune by David Adams Richards (Canada)
Canada and the Caribbean - Best First Book
Baby Khaki’s Wings by Anar Ali (Canada)
Vandal Love by D.Y. Bechard (Canada)
De Niro’s Game by Rawi Hage (Canada)
The Fear of Stones by Kei Miller (Jamaica)
Indigenous Beasts by Nathan Sellyn (Canada)
The Hour of Bad Decisions by Russell Wangersky (Canada)
Europe and South Asia - Best Book
Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra (India)
Miss Webster and Chérif by Patricia Duncker (UK)
The Sweet and Simple Kind by Yasmine Gooneratne (Sri Lanka)
Carry Me Down by M J Hyland (UK)
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (UK)
The Perfect Man by Naeem Murr (UK)
The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson (UK)
Europe and South Asia - Best First Book
The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther (UK)
The Mathematics of Love by Emma Darwin (UK)
This Time of Dying by Reina James (UK)
Giraffe by J M Ledgard (UK)
Londonstani by Gautam Malkani (UK)
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar (UK)
The Amnesia Clinic by James Scudamore (UK)
South East Asia and South Pacific - Best Book
Ocean Roads by James George (New Zealand)
Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey (Australia)
Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones (New Zealand)
Carpentaria by Alexis Wright (Australia)
The Fainter by Damien Wilkins (New Zealand)
Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (Australia)
Careless by Deborah Robertson (Australia)
South East Asia and South Pacific - Best First Book
Tuvalu by Andrew O’Connor (Australia)
Davey Darling by Paul Shannon (New Zealand)
The Fish & Chip Song by Carl Nixon (New Zealand)
The Long Road of the Junkmailer by Patrick Holland (Australia)
Poinciana by Jane Turner Goldsmith (Australia)
Filed under Asian literature, Australian literature, British literature, Commonwealth literature, English literature, Fiction, Novels, Shortlists
2006 Patrick White Award announced
Date: November 11, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
The recipient of the 2006 Patrick White Award has been announced. The annual prize, which was established in 1973 by the Australian novelist Patrick White with the money he received for his winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, is given to a writer who has not received adequate recognition despite of his or her long literary career.
This year’s prize goes to Morris Lurie. Wikipedia describes Lurie as
“an Australian writer of comic novels, short stories, essays, plays, and children’s books. His work focuses on the comic mishaps of Jewish-Australian men (often writers) of Lurie’s generation, who are invariably jazz fans.” (source)
You can read more about Lurie’s work at Amazon.com and at Amazon.co.uk.
Filed under Australian literature, English literature, Fiction, Lifetime awards, Short stories, Winners
2006 Man Booker Prize Winner Announced
Date: October 10, 2006 | Discussion: 1 Comment
Kiran Desai has been awarded the 2006 Man Booker Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious and best known literary awards. The annual prize, first given in 1969, awards £50,000 to the best original full-length novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland.
The winning work, The Inheritance of Loss, is only the second novel published by Desai, and the 35-year-old is now the youngest female ever to have won the Booker Prize. The novel is dedicated to her mother, Anita Desai, who herself was nominated for the Booker Prize on three separate occasions. Kiran Desai grew up in India and England, and now resides in the USA.
The Inheritance of Loss
by Kiran Desai
At the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, lives an embittered old judge who wants nothing more than to retire in peace. But with the arrival of his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, and his cook’s son trying to stay a step ahead of US immigration services, this is far from easy. When a Nepalese insurgency threatens Sai’s blossoming romance with her handsome tutor they are forced to consider their colliding interests. …
You can read more about The Inheritance of Loss at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
A list of works that were shortlisted for the prize this year can be found here.
Filed under Australian literature, British literature, Canadian literature, Commonwealth literature, English literature, Fiction, Novels, Winners
2006 Man Booker Prize Shortlist Announced
Date: September 16, 2006 | Discussion: 1 Comment
The 2006 Man Booker Prize shortlist has been announced. The six novels selected from the earlier longlist are:
The Inheritance of Loss
by Kiran Desai
At the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, lives an embittered old judge who wants nothing more than to retire in peace. But with the arrival of his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, and his cook’s son trying to stay a step ahead of US immigration services, this is far from easy. When a Nepalese insurgency threatens Sai’s blossoming romance with her handsome tutor they are forced to consider their colliding interests. …
You can read more about The Inheritance of Loss at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
The Secret River
by Kate Grenville
Grenville’s Australian bestseller, which won the Orange Prize, is an eye-opening tale of the settlement of New South Wales by a population of exiled British criminals. Research into her own ancestry informs Grenville’s work, the chronicle of fictional husband, father and petty thief William Thornhill and his path from poverty to prison, then freedom. Crime is a way of life for Thornhill growing up in the slums of London at the turn of the 19th century—until he’s caught stealing lumber….
You can read more about The Secret River at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Carry Me Down
by M.J. Hyland
A spare, piercing testimony to the bewilderment and resiliency of youth, Hyland’s second novel (following How the Light Gets In) filters the adult world through the distressed lens of adolescence, which makes every change look like a test of survival. John Egan is an extremely tall 11-year-old boy living in the small town of Gorey, Ireland, with the moody triumvirate of his mother, father and grandmother. …
You can read more about Carry Me Down at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
In the Country of Men
by Hisham Matar
On a white-hot day in Tripoli, Libya, in the summer of 1979, nine-year-old Suleiman is shopping in the market square with his mother. His father is away on business - except that he is sure he has just seen his father, standing across the street in a pair of dark glasses. But, why isn’t he waving? And, why doesn’t he come over when he knows Suleiman’s mother is falling apart? …
You can read more about In the Country of Men at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Mother’s Milk
by Edward St Aubyn
This elegant and witty satire on the dissatisfactions of family life, which continues the story of Patrick Melrose, the hero of St. Aubyn’s U.S. debut (Some Hope), opens in August 2000 at Patrick’s mother’s home in the south of France, with Patrick’s five-year-old son, Robert, remembering with preternatural clarity the circumstances of his birth. …
You can read more about Mother’s Milk at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
The Night Watch
by Sarah Waters
Waters begins Night Watch at the end of her tale in 1947 and works her way backwards to 1941. Since she ensures that characters don’t spoil the freshness of earlier events by leaking important information, the first part includes a series of conversations that coyly allude to the characters’ pasts and make the narrative slightly difficult to comprehend. …
You can read more about The Night Watch at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced on 10th of October, 2006.
Filed under American literature, Australian literature, British literature, Canadian literature, Commonwealth literature, English literature, Fiction, Novels, Shortlists
2006 Premier’s Literary Awards winners announced
Date: September 6, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
Winners of the 2006 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards have been annonced. The awards, established in 1985, are given by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia’s publishing industry.
The winners of this year’s awards are:
The Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction
Theft: A love Story by Peter Carey (Knopf/Random House)
The Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction
Margaret Michaelis: Love, Loss and Photography by Helen Ennis (National Gallery of Australia)
The C J Dennis Prize for Poetry
Urban Myths: 210 Poems by John Tranter (University of Queensland Press)
The Louis Esson Prize for Drama
Three Furies: Scenes from the Life of Francis Bacon by Stephen Sewell (Adelaide Festival)
The Prize for Young Adult Fiction
Theodora’s Gift by Ursula Dubosarsky (Penguin Books Australia)
The Prize for a First Book of History
Humain Remains by Helen MacDonald (Melbourne University Publishing)
The Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate
Is the Media Asleep? from Do Not Disturb: Is the Media Failing Australia? by David Marr (Black Inc)
The Village Roadshow Prize for Screen Writing
Noise by Matthew Saville (Retroactive Films)
The Prize for Indigenous Writing
Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch (University of Queensland Press)
The Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Victorian Writer
Rohypnol by Andrew Hutchinson
The Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize for Writing about Italians in Australia
When in Rome: Chasing La Dolce Vita by Penelope Green (Hachette Livre Australia)
The John Curtin Prize for Journalism
Information Idol: How Google is Making Us Stupid by Gideon Haigh (The Monthly)
The Tall Man by Chloe Hooper (The Monthly)
The list of winners, as well as links to judges’ reports, can be found at the State Library of Victoria website
Filed under Australian literature, Drama, English literature, Fiction, Novels, Poetry, Short stories, Winners
Man Booker Prize 2006 longlist announced
Date: August 15, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
The longlist for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2006 is as follows:
Carey, Peter Theft: A Love Story (Faber & Faber)
Desai, Kiran The Inheritance of Loss (Hamish Hamilton)
Edric, Robert Gathering the Water (Doubleday)
Gordimer, Nadine Get a Life (Bloomsbury)
Grenville, Kate The Secret River (Canongate)
Hyland, M.J. Carry Me Down (Canongate)
Jacobson, Howard Kalooki Nights (Jonathan Cape)
Lasdun, James Seven Lies (Jonathan Cape)
Lawson, Mary The Other Side of the Bridge (Chatto & Windus)
McGregor, Jon So Many Ways to Begin (Bloomsbury)
Matar, Hisham In the Country of Men (Viking)
Messud, Claire The Emperor’s Children (Picador)
Mitchell, David Black Swan Green (Sceptre)
Murr, Naeem The Perfect Man (William Heinemann)
O’Hagan, Andrew Be Near Me (Faber & Faber)
Robertson, James The Testament of Gideon Mack (Hamish Hamilton)
St Aubyn, Edward Mother’s Milk (Picador)
Unsworth, Barry The Ruby in her Navel (Hamish Hamilton)
Waters, Sarah The Night Watch (Virago)
