Book Award Tragic: NSW Premier's Literary Award Finalists

Thursday, March 26, 2009

NSW Premier's Literary Award Finalists

New South Wales (NSW) is Australia's most populated State with nearly 7 million inhabitants. It is also home to the nation's richest book award, the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Worth $320,000 AUD ( 225,000 USD, 154,000GBP)the awards are given across 11 categories with one category winner going on to win NSW Premier's Book of the Year Award. It is to be imagined that giving out the awards is one of the current Premier's, Nathan Rees, more pleasant duties. The 2009 short list has just been released with 62 contenders short listed from more than 640 entries for awards in categories including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, young people's literature, children's literature, play and script writing, and translation. (See Shortlists for full list of categories.) For the first time the award has introduced a People's Choice Award where the public of NSW can vote for their favourite book from those listed for the prestigious Christina Stead Award. Both the Stead and the Premier's Prize were won last year by Michelle de Kretser's - The Lost Dog which was also long listed for the Man Booker Prize amongst others. The award has taken no chances with the Christina Stead/People's Choice award selecting six books that already have their followers and have already won a raft of awards between them. Helen Garner's, The Spare Room, has already won last year's fiction award in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and in the Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. It is currently shortlisted for the newish Barbara Jefferis Award as is another shortlistee, Joan London's, The Good Parents. The very popular Tim Winton's, Breath , last year took out the inaugural Australian Indies Book of the fiction prize in the Age Book of the Year. It is longlisted for this years Mile Franklin Award and already a best seller. Another strong contender is the first time novelist Steve Toltz's A Fraction of the Whole. The book was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (won by Aravind Adiga's White Tiger), shortlisted for the Aussie crime writers award "the Neddies", shortlisted for the Guardian First Novel and the Australian Book Industry Awards. It is also on this years Miles longlist. Kate Grenville, an writer of superb class is in the running with The Lieutenant. Ms. Grenville's earlier works Lilian's Story, Dark Places and Joan Makes History have become modern classics. Her the Secret River won the Commonwealth Writer's, ABIA & NSW Premier's amongst others! That leaves Julia Leigh who has honed her skills even further since winning the biennial Kathleen Mitchell Award for Young Writers and the UK's Betty Thrask with her first novel The Hunter in 2000. She is on the shortlist with her long awaited second, Disquiet. All in all a formidable line-up. Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature is being contested by a group of Australian Legendary writers familiar to many around the world. Winner of the globe's richest children's literature prize, the Astrid Lindgren, Sonia Hartnett Sonya Hartnett (illus Ann James) is listed with Sadie and Ratz . Four time NSW Premiers winner, Ursula Dubosarsky's The Word Spy ( Tohby Riddle illus) and Boston Globe Winner, Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia make-up a formidable trio in the group. Winners due out on 18th May as part of the Sydney Writers Festival celebrations.

Christina Stead Prize for fiction ($40,000)

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Helen Garner (Flemington, VIC) – The Spare Room Kate Grenville (Lyneham, ACT) – The Lieutenant Julia Leigh (Bondi Beach, NSW) –Disquiet Joan London (Fremantle, WA) – The Good Parents Steve Toltz (North Bondi, NSW) – A Fraction of the Whole Tim Winton (Fremantle, WA) – Breath

Douglas Stewart Prize for non-fiction ($40,000)