John Kinsella on Shortlist for T. S. Eliot Prize
John Kinsella is one of ten contenders for the 2011 T. S. Eliot Prize, an annual prize awarded by the UK Poetry Book Society. Kinsella's shortlisted title, Armour, is described by his publisher as 'his most spiritual work to date — and his most politically engaged'. (Pan Macmillan website)
The chair of the T. S. Eliot Prize judging panel, Gillian Clarke, said of the award: 'This most demanding of all poetry prizes bears the name of a great twentieth century poet. A great book must win. The shortlist emerged with some pain but no dispute.'
The winner will be announced in London on 16 January 2012 at the T. S. Eliot Prize Award Ceremony. For further information, see the Poetry Book Society website.
Latest Literary Award Announcements
Several literary awards have been announced across the country in recent days:
► The winner of the 2010 Colin Roderick Award is Melbourne journalist Karen Kissane for Worst of Days: Inside the Black Saturday Firestorm, an account of the 2009 'Black Saturday' bushfires. The judges said Kissane's book was 'instinctive, heartbreaking, inspiring, haunting, and impossible to put down' and 'a masterpiece of lucid narrative and structure'. Kissane will receive $10,000 and the H. T. Priestley Medal at a dinner in Townsville on 10 November.
► In Melbourne, this year's Inky Awards have been decided. The Gold Inky (for an Australian book) was awarded to James Moloney for his young adult, fantasy novel Silvermay. The Silver Inky (for an international book) went to US writer Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel.
► And in Sydney, the Lady Cutler Award for distinguished service to children's literature has been awarded to Margaret Wild. Announcing the award, the New South Wales Branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia said that Wild was chosen 'for her dedication to her craft and to her audience and for the important place she has in the history and development of Australian children's books'.
Eleven More Writers Added to Circular Quay Walk
Eleven Australian writers have been added to the Writers' Walk at Circular Quay, Sydney. New South Wales Minister for the Arts George Souris officially unveiled the latest plaques on 24 October. Mr Souris said he was delighted to see the names of these eleven writers 'permanently etched into Circular Quay for locals and visitors alike to see for many years to come'.
The Walk's brass plaques, now numbering sixty in all, stretch from the Opera House forecourt to the Overseas Passenger Terminal. Among the latest additions are Marcus Clarke, P. L. Travers, Patricia Wrightson and Colleen McCullough. Each plaque bears the author's name, writing highlights and a short quote from their work. Writers already represented range from Henry Lawson, Kenneth Slessor and Clive James to international visitors such as Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson's quote reads: '... there is material for a dozen buccaneering stories to be picked up in the hotels at Circular Quay'.
Full details of the newly-added authors are available via the Arts NSW website by clicking here to view the minister's media release.
Reading List for the National Year of Reading
The National Year of Reading campaign is devising a list of books — one from each state and territory — that, read together, will describe the 'Australian experience'. An independent panel of readers has selected a shortlist of six books for each of the eight regions, 'choosing from a selection put forward by publishers and libraries'.
Australians are invited to vote for the books that 'together paint a picture of the Australian people and the land that we live in'. The list of books is dominated by contemporary novels and includes Chris Womersley's Bereft, Alex Miller's Journey to the Stone Country, Peter Goldsworthy's Three Dog Night, Julia Leigh's The Hunter and Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones. The full list is available on the National Year of Reading's website.
Voting begins on Tuesday, 1 November and closes on Friday, 6 January 2012. The chosen titles will be announced at the launch of the National Year of Reading to be held at the National Library of Australia on Tuesday, 14 February 2012. Voting is via the ABC's website or through your local library. (The ABC will activate its voting link in the coming days. Click here to check availability.)
Jesse Blackadder off to the Antarctic
Jesse Blackadder had received the 2011 Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship, enabling her to further her research into the life of Ingrid Christensen, the first woman to see Antarctica. Blackadder is working on an historical novel about Christensen as part of her Doctor of Creative Arts project at the University of Western Sydney.
The Antarctic Arts Fellowship is offered annually 'to those with a non-science focus to experience Antarctica first-hand so that they may communicate this unique experience and understanding to other Australians.' Previous recipients include Hazel Edwards (who later published Antarctic Dad and Antarctic Close-Up), Anthony Eaton (who wrote the YA award-winner Into White Silence), and Tom Griffiths (who produced the prize-winning Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica).
Further details of Blackadder's research are available in the 14 October 2011 Australian Antarctic Division media release.
Two Australians in Contention for 2012 Astrid Lindgren Award
Hazel Edwards and Jackie French are among the 184 candidates from 66 countries nominated for the 2012 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The award, in honour of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, is presented to 'authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and those active in reading promotion work'. The award recognises 'lifetime achievements of the highest artistic quality and in the spirit of Astrid Lindgren with a focus on a profound respect for democratic values and human rights'.
Australians have a good record in winning the prize — of the nine recipients to date, two have been Australians. Sonya Hartnett won in 2008 and Shaun Tan 2011. The next winner will be announced on 20 March 2012.
More information about the world's largest children's literature award is available on the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award website.
Davitt Awards 2011
The Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women were announced 8 October as part of the SheKilda Convention. The Davitt is named to honour Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) who wrote Australia’s first mystery novel, Force and Fraud in 1865.The awards were presented by Shamini Flint, Singapore-based author of The Inspector Singh Investigates series.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 Davitt Awards
Children's and YA – A Girl Like Me by Penny Matthews
Adult Crime – Cold Justice by Katherine Howell (This is the first time the same author has won twice in this category.)
True Crime - Murderer No More by Colleen Egan
Readers Choice – The Old School by P.M. Newton
Tournament of Books Underway at Meanjin
Meanjin is currently conducting a Tournament of Books — a sporting tournament for people who don’t like sport. Sixteen fiction titles by some of Australia's finest female writers are competing 'head to head' in a series of knockout rounds. Books are judged in pairs and the winner proceeds to the next round.
The first two matches in Round One have been completed: Joan London's Gilgamesh beat Michelle de Kretser's The Lost Dog and Helen Garner's The Children's Bach knocked out Elizabeth Jolley's Mr Scobie's Riddle.
Follow the competition on the Tournament of Books webpage or via Twitter at @Meanjin and vote for your favourite eliminated book in the upcoming Zombie Round.
Dr Aunty Ruby Langford Ginibi : January 1934-October 2011
Dr Aunty Ruby Ginibi was born on Invasion Day, 26 January 1934, and, sadly, passed away on 1 October 2011. Aunty Ruby was given the title Ginibi, meaning 'black swan', by her Bundjalung Elders, and she was one of Australia’s foremost Aboriginal authors and historians.
Born of the Bundjalung Nation, Aunty Ruby was educated in Casino until the age of 15. She moved to Sydney, where she qualified as a machinist, before returning to the country and working in various rural towns, clearing scrub, fencing, pegging kangaroo skins, and burning off. Later, she returned to Sydney where she resumed a position in the clothing industry.
Aunty Ruby dedicated her life not only to many Aboriginal causes but also, first and foremost, to her nine children, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren. Like many women writers, she began her writing career later in life.
'Island' Magazine Funding Rescue
The Literature Board of the Australia Council has announced a one-off grant of $60,000 for Tasmania's Island magazine. The announcement follows the August 2011 decision by Arts Tasmania to cut Island's funding for 2012. (See AustLit's blog entry 'Island Magazine Faces Funding Cut'.)
Chair of the Literature Board, Professor Dennis Haskell said: 'Island has a distinctive character presenting a Tasmanian perspective on Australian issues and Australian writing, and highlighting eco-criticism and environmental creative writing ... The Literature Board does not want to see this important magazine slip from view.'
Vale Di Gribble
Australian publisher Diana Gribble has died from cancer at the age of sixty-nine. Gribble, together with Hilary McPhee, established the publishing house McPhee Gribble in 1975. With Eric Beecher, she set up the Text Media Group in 1990. (The group's publishing arm is Text Publishing.)
WA Premier's Awards Adds to Kim Scott's Prize Tally
The winners of the 2010 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards were announced in Perth on 30 September 2011. The awards added a further accolade for Kim Scott's That Deadman Dance.
The judges chose Scott's novel for the Fiction Award, saying it 'reveals the layers of complexity surrounding first contact between indigenous and settler cultures and how these are mediated through language'.
Death of Ruby Langford Ginibi
Respected Bundjalung woman and writer Ruby Langford Ginibi has died in Sydney at the age of seventy-seven. 'Aunty Ruby' Ginibi came to public notice in 1988 through her autobiography Don't Take Your Love to Town. The book, published during Australia's Bi-centennial Year, won a Human Rights Commission Award for Literature and Other Writing.