AustLit
History
'The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awards go to writers under the age of 30 with works published in the previous year to the award, the work can be either non-fiction, fiction or poetry.
'Since 1964, multiple winners have usually been chosen in the same year. In 1975 and in 2012, the award was not given.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_Maugham_Award)
Latest Winners / Recipients
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Year: 2000
winner y
Pobby and Dingan
Milsons Point
:
Random House
,
2000
Z669019
2000
single work
children's fiction
children's
'This enchanting tale is at once a beautifully rendered narrative of childhood loss and a powerfully simple fable about the necessity of imagination.
'Pobby and Dingan are Kellyanne Williamson’s best friends, maybe her only friends, and only she can see them. Kellyanne’s brother, Ashmol, can’t see them and doesn’t believe they exist anywhere but in Kellyanne’s immature imagination. Only when Pobby and Dingan disappear and Kellyanne becomes heartsick over their loss does Ashmol realize that not only must he believe in Pobby and Dingan, he must convince others to believe in them, too.' (Publication summary)
Also shortlisted for the Mail on Sunday / John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, 2001. -
Year: 1979
winner y
Jack and Jill
London
:
Duckworth
,
1978
Z570914
1978
single work
novel
satire
'Jill and her dad are happy enough after her mother dies. Theirs is a simple life in the outback, far from the big city where a coathanger is being built across a sparkling harbour.
'Until Jack arrives at their door one evening, and steps inside to find the skinny, wild-looking child sitting with her grim-faced father. It's the start of all Jill's problems.
'"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," threatens Jack, as he marches off to war. And he's right, in a way—but this is no ordinary romance.
'Spanning the period from the Depression to the freewheeling '60s, Helen Hodgman's award-winning second book is a masterpiece, a twisted fairytale told with her characteristic dark wit.' (From the Penguin website.)
