Busy May for Literary Festivals in Australia and New Zealand.

A busy May in the Southern hemisphere for followers of Literary Festivals with three major events taking place in Australia and New Zealand. Details below from Tragic's Literary Festivals Australia site.

Sydney Writers' Festival (SWF)

What's it all about then? SWF is an annual celebration of the written word. It is recognised as one of the world’s finest literary events and is the third largest festival of its kind in the world.

When is it? 2009 will be held from Monday 18 to Sunday 24 May.

Who’s appearing? Debra Adelaide (Australia); Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria/US); Monica Ali (Bangladesh/UK); M.T. Anderson (US); Stefan Aust,(Germany); Tash Aw (Malaysia/UK); Marcus Chown ; George Friedman(USA), Kirsty Gunn, (NZ/UK); Tristan Bancks; Morris Gleitzman, Mohammed Hanif, (Pakistan);and many more

Where is it? SWF takes place at various venues across Walsh Bay and Sydney’s CBD, Sydney’s western suburbs and regional NSW. Features a diverse mix of events, over 60% of which are free, including panel discussions, one-on-one interviews, talks, workshops, readings, performances, literary lunches, film screenings, events for younger readers and exhibitions. Welcomes anyone with an interest in writing, reading and literature.

Festival Website:www.swf.org.au/

Eye of the Storm NT Writers' Festival, Alice Springs May 1-4, 2009 -

What's it all about then? The inaugural Eye of the Storm festival went off with a kaboom in Katherine, in May 2007. 2009 looks set to deliver more of the sam but this time in Alice. A top-class line-up of interstate and local talent has been signed-up.

When is it? Alice Springs May 1-4, 2009

Who’s appearing? Kate Grenville, Arnold Zable, Shane Maloney, Andrew McMillan, Jennifer Byrne, Wire MC, Choo Choo, Jennifer Mills, John Maynard, Linda Jaivin, Steve Gumerungi Hodder, Richard J Frankland, Jo Dutton, Kenny Laughton, Peter Bishop, Barry Nicholls, Michael Watts, Tanya Heaslip, Kelly-Lee Hickey, Yvette Holt, Dani Powell, Leonie Norrington, Mary Anne Butler, Mardijah Simpson, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Shellie Morris, Bec Cole, Warwick Thornton, Mei Lai Swan, Kimberley Mann, Kieran Finnane, Bob Gosford, Alison Lester, Nicholas Jose, Jeremy Fisher plus more

Festival Website: Eye of the Storm

Auckland Writers and Readers Festival

What's it all about then? The Auckland Writers and Readers Festival is a festival of ideas celebrating books and reading, with events, panels and workshops involving many distinguished local, Asia-Pacific and international writers. Affiliated with the Sydney Writers Festival.

The two overall winners of the twenty-third annual Commonwealth Writers’ Prize will be announced at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival on 16 May 2009.

When is it? 13 -17 May 2009

Who’s appearing? Martin Edmond (NZ/Australia); Debra Adelaide (Australia); Mohammed Hanif, (Pakistan);Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria/US); Monica Ali (Bangladesh/UK); M.T. Anderson (US); Stefan Aust,(Germany); Tash Aw (Malaysia/UK); Marcus Chown ; George Friedman(USA), Kirsty Gunn, (NZ/UK); Hendrick Hertzberg (US); Richard Holloway (Scotland); David Malouf (Australia); Iggy McGovern (Ireland); Mal Peet (UK); Sonya Renee (US); Rhonda Sherman (US); James Surowiecki (US); Judith Thurman (US); Christos Tsiolkas (Australia).

Where is it? The 2009 Auckland Writers & Readers Festival author events will take place in The Aotea Centre, The Edge®...

Festival Webiste: http://www.writersfestival.co.nz

Oklahoma Book Award Winners

Sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for the Book (OCB) the Oklahoma Book Awards are given each year in fiction, non-fiction, children/young adult, poetry, and design/illustration categories for work written by an Oklahoman or about Oklahoma. The 2009 winners were declared at a gala dinner last Saturday with 220 people in attendance. No idea what was on the menu but a number of the winners, particularly Full Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School Basketball Champions of the World, by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith, should go onto to win other literary awards in Tragic's humble opinion.

2009 Oklahoma Book Award Winners

Fiction - Sweeping Up Glass: A Novel —Carolyn Wall—Poisoned Pen Press

Children/Young Adults - Spy! Anna Myers—Walker and Company

Poetry - Two Tables Over—Nathan Brown—Village Books Press

Non-fiction _ Full Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School Basketball Champions of the World —Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith—University of Oklahoma Press

Design and Illustration - Placing Memory: A Photographic Exploration of Japanese American Internment (Charles M. Russell Center Series on Art and Photography of the American West) —Todd Stewart—University of Oklahoma Press

About Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles (177,847 km²),Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people",and is known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State. Formed from the Indian Territory on November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was the 46th state to enter the union. Its residents are known as Oklahomans, and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.

Cook Book of the Year Winners

The IACP Cookbook Awards (International Association of Culinary Professionals) annually celebrate the year's most outstanding food and beverage publications. The awards program (originally called Tastemaker's) was created to encourage and promote quality and creativity in cookbook writing and publishing and to expand awareness of culinary literature. The IACP Cookbook Awards have become the industry's most coveted acknowledgement of excellence in the cookbook publishing world. The 2009 winners look good enough to eat. Tragic is particularly pleased that Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood by Taras Grescoe won the Literary Food Writing category. Alarmingly, Tragic actually picked nine out of the eleven category winners in a game he plays , called pick the winner. Either pure coincidence of a sign of a new calling. Slide show of past winners cover art below. Winners American- Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited by Arthur Schwartz -

Baking -The Art and Soul of Baking by Sur La Table and Cindy Mushet-

Compilations - The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh by Barbara Fairchild --

First Book (The Julia Child Award) A16: Food + Wine by Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren

Food Photography and Styling Chanterelle: The Story and Recipes of a Restaurant Classic by Dave Waltuck and Andrew Friedman - Winner

Food Reference and Technical The Science of Good Food: The Ultimate Reference on How Cooking Works by David Joachim and Andrew Schloss

General Do It For Less! Wedding: How to Create Your Dream Wedding Without Breaking the Bank by Denise Vivaldo

Health and Special Diet - The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger

International - Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Literary Food Writing - Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood by Taras Grescoe

Single Subject- Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient by Jennifer Mclagan

Tasmania Book Prizes Winning Books

Tragic has a soft spot for Tasmania having spent many a happy moment in front of bulldozers that were trying to destroy wilderness. He likes to read about the State's history and environment and admires a number of it's authors and poets. It saddens him that getting hold of the books short listed for the biennial Tasmanian Book Prizes is torturous. Fortunately two out of three of this years winners are readily available, though not other short listed books it seems. Yes, yes, Tragic knows it is a small State and the awards are local, but still. Convict History Wins the 2009 Prize

A history of convict life and settlement in Van Diemen's Land has won the AUD$25,000 Tasmania Book Prize.

The 2009 award has been presented as part of the Ten Days on the Island arts festival.

Hobart author James Boyce spent seven years working on Van Diemen's Land: A History, (James Boyce, Black Inc.)

"When you're writing about Tasmania, people are so interested that you feel like writing within a community and get feedback and ideas and there's a sense of belonging," Boyce explained.

Other prizes, worth AUD$5000, were also announced at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart.

Hamish Maxwell-Stewart won the Margaret Scott Prize for the best book by a Tasmanian writer. He pieced together thousands of old records to tell of convict life in the notorious Macquarie Harbour settlement in the writing of Closing Hell's Gates: The Death of a Convict Station, Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, A&U

The University of Tasmania prize went to Lynne Andrews for her Antarctic-inspired art history book, Antarctic Eye: the Visual Journey ,Studio One

2009 Shortlists

In the running for the $25,000 prize, awarded to the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre, were:

Van Diemen's Land: A History, (James Boyce, Black Inc.) - Winner Tasmanian Visions: Landscapes in Writing, Art and Photography (Roslynn D Haynes, Polymath Press) Closing Hell's Gates: The Death of a Convict Station (Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, A&U)

The shortlists for the Margaret Scott Prize for a writer residing in Tasmania and the University of Tasmania Prize for the best book by a Tasmanian publisher (both $5000).

Margaret Scott Prize

Tasmanian Visions: Landscapes in Writing, Art and Photography Roslynn D Haynes, Polymath Press- Winner Jack Thwaites: Pioneer Tasmanian Bushwalker & Conservationist Simon Kleinig, Forty Degrees South Closing Hell's Gates: The Death of a Convict Station, Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, A&U

The University of Tasmania Prize

Antarctic Eye: the Visual Journey , Lynne Andrews, Studio One - Winner For the Record: James Bennell’s Buildings in Early Launceston, Helen Davies, Terrace Press Collection Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

About the Prize

The Tasmania Book Prizes celebrate works published in the previous two years. In 2005 the inaugural Tasmania Prize was won by David Hansen's John Glover and the Colonial Picturesque.

As a reflection of the growing status and popularity of writing and publishing in Tasmania, a new suite of book prizes has now been established: the Tasmania Book Prize ($25,000), the Margaret Scott Prize ($5000), and the University of Tasmania Prize ($5000).

More information can be found on the Arts Tasmania site.

Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize

The five titles short listed for the inaugural Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize have been announced. Good luck to all.

The titles in the running for the NZ$12,500 prize, of which $2500 goes to the publisher, are:

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The Awa Book of New Zealand Science edited by Rebecca Priestley (Awa Press) Falling For Science: Asking the Big Questions by Bernard Beckett (Longacre Press) Hot Topic: Global Warming and the Future of New Zealand by Gareth Renowden (AUT Media) In Search of Ancient New Zealandd by Hamish Campbell and Gerard Hutching (Penguin) Wetlands of New Zealand: A Bittersweet Story by Janet Hunt (Random House).

British Book Award Winners- Obama, Meyer et al. Marketing Imperative? You Bloody Cynic!

Occasionally Tragic's alter ego lets a cartoon out of the shed too soon, so apologies for the illustration above appearing twice. Poor Tragic is suffering from a particularly severe case of leading Book Award burn-out cynicism- no doubt it will pass. The prize winners of the 2009 Galaxy British Book Awards are a marketers dream. President Obama, Stephanie Meyer and a bunch of already multi-award winning and/or best selling books on the winners podium. All involved in producing the winners list, appear to have worked very hard monitoring the sales charts and existing award winners lists -no doubt they read a few of the books too. No wonder the Irish Book Awards aspire to emulate. Of course the new American President, the One we all believe is going to lead us out of the wilderness of our own greed and avarice, deserves a literary award. No less so Stephanie Meyer's Vampire stories, soooo very pertinent to giving youth role models and realistic expectations. In their defence, the 'Nibbies', as the Public Relation People would like us to know them affectionately as, are unapologetically populist. It's about selling books in a depressed climate, silly. So, give the great unwashed what they have already told us that they want and confirm the virtue of our choices, made, independently as they are, of marketing influences. The whole process has been like announcing that the football teams of the year are: Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Who would have guessed. Critique to follow; assuming an ounce of enthusiasm can be mustered. The 2009 winners Galaxy Book of the Year The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: or the Murder at Road Hill House- Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury) Outstanding Achievement Michael Palin Richard & Judy Best Read When Will There be Good News?- Kate Atkinson (Black Swan) Borders Author of the Year The White Tiger Aravind Adiga (Atlantic Books) Tesco Biography of the Year Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance- Barack Obama (Canongate) Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson (Quercus) Sainsbury's Popular Fiction Award Devil May Care- Sebastian Faulks (Penguin 007) Play.com Popular Non-Fiction Award The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: or the Murder at Road Hill House - Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury) Waterstone's New Writer of the Year Child 44 Tom Rob Smith (Simon & Schuster) WHSmith Children's Book of the Year Devil May Care- Whoops Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)-Stephenie Meyer, Atom

Will Obama Win Major British Book Award?

D-day is here. This evening, UK time, we will learn if American President, Barrack Obama, has won Britain's highest profile book award, the Galaxy British. The most media and web 2.0 savvy President of all time, Obama is nominated in two categories. The Author of the Year for Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and in the Biograpahy category for Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance . Of course he is up against Stephanie Meyer and the Booker winner! No problems. The awards, now in their 20th year, will be presented at a glittering ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane tonight, Friday 3rd April. The finalists include no fewer than nine major literary prizewinners, reinforcing the status of the Nibbies – so-called because of their distinctive pen-nib trophies – as the British publishing industry’s answer to the Oscars.

Borders Author of the Year

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Atlantic Books)

Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill (Granta Books)

The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Faber & Faber)

Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer (Atom)

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama (Canongate)

The Road Home by Rose Tremain (Vintage)

Tesco Biography of the Year

At My Mother's Knee ... by Paul O'Grady (Bantam Press)

Coming Back to Me: The Autobiography of Marcus Trescothick by Marcus Trescothick (HarperSport)

Dear Fatty by Dawn French (Century)

Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama (Canongate)

Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton : an Autobiography by J.G Ballard (Fourth Estate)

That's Another Story: The Autobiography by Julie Walters (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

International IMPAC Dublin Bland Choices

ilustration, Tragic's alter-ego, Kev Parker

Disappointed? Yes. But, every prize has it's off years and the Dublin IMPAC International has had a good run up to date. Do not misunderstand. The 2009 short list contains some fine books, but Literary Prizes that hang such a big notice on themselves, claiming to be different from the pack, need to be aware that staying at the top of the heap requires diligence. A frog in boiling water, if the water is heated slowly enough, does notice as they boil to death. In our case we are being slowly heated in the Sea of Coca-Culturalism and marketing ploys as diversity slowly drowns and imagination chokes. Brave New World. The Shortlist is:

2009 Shortlists - Winner June 11th-

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (Dominican / American) Riverhead Books Ravel by Jean Echenoz (French) in translation. The New Press The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Pakistani / British) Hamish Hamilton / Harcourt / Doubleday Canada The Archivist's Story by Travis Holland (American) Dial Press The Burnt-out Town of Miracles by Roy Jacobsen (Norwegian) in translation. John Murray Publishers The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt (American) Bloomsbury Publishing Animal's People by Indra Sinha (Indian / British) Simon & Schuster Man Gone Down by Micheal Thomas (American) Grove / Atlantic

Winners due in June. Prize 100,000 Euros.

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize - Quality Work

artwork Tragic's alter-ego, Kev Parker

The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, honours fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. It is part of the Translated Works family that includes the Best Translated Book Award, Marsh Prize for Translation in Children's Literature . The IMPAC Dublin International also pays due reverence to translated works.

The award was first launched in 1990 and ran for five years before falling into abeyance. It was revived in 2001 with the support of Arts Council England. Entries (fiction or short stories) must be published in English translation in the UK in the year preceding the award and the author must be alive at the time that the translation is published.

Uniquely, the prize acknowledges both the winning novelist and translator, each being awarded £5,000.

It has issued it's just 2009 Shortlist. Winners in May.

Shortlist Set in a remote mountain village in the South American country, prize-winning Colombian author Evelio Rosero's The Armies follows the story of a retired teacher fearful that his wife has been kidnapped, as gunfire breaks out in the distance and more people begin to go missing. Juan Gabriel Vásquez, , is shortlisted for The Informers , which details the journey of an author as he seeks to discover the hidden story of Colombian society during the second world war.

Also in the running is exiled Chinese writer Ma Jian's story, Beijing Coma, of a Chinese student who is sent into a coma by a bullet during the Tiananmen Square massacre. Another exiled author, the Albanian Ismail Kadare, is shortlisted for The Siege about the clash between the Ottoman Empire and Albania in the early 15th century.

A debut novel from France, Céline Curiol's Voice Over, about a train announcer at the Gare du Nord who falls in love, and acclaimed Israeli novelist AB Yehoshua's story of a marriage, Friendly Fire, complete the line-up.

Slide show Cover Art 2009 Short and Long listed Books. Click on Cover for more information from Amazon.uk

2009 Prize

Shortlist

Voice Over by Céline Curiol, translated by Sam Richard from the French Beijing Coma by Ma Jian, translated by Flora Drew from the Chinese The Siege by Ismail Kadare, translated by David Bellos from the Albanian The Armies by Evelio Rosero, translated by Anne McLean from the Spanish The Informers by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated by Anne McLean from the Spanish Friendly Fire by A B Yehoshua, translated by Stuart Schoffman from the Hebrew

Longlist:

Sjón, The Blue Fox (translated by Victoria Cribb from the Icelandic) Jose Eduardo Agualusa, My Father's Wives (translated by Daniel Hahn from the Portuguese) Dag Solstad, Novel 11, Book 18 (translated by Sverre Lyngstad from the Norwegian) Yoko Ogawa, The Diving Pool (translated by Stephen Snyder from the Japanese) Eshkol Nevo, Homesick (translated by Sondra Silverston from the Hebrew) Linn Ullmann, A Blessed Child (translated by Sarah Death from the Norwegian) Thomas Glavinic, Night Work (translated by John Brownjohn from the German) Gyorgy Dragoman, The White King (translated by Paul Olchvary from the Hungarian) Alexander Ahndoril, The Director (translated by Sarah Death from the Swedish) Sasa Stanisic, How The Soldier Repairs The Gramophone (translated by Anthea Bell from the German)