After its recent tumultuous history, the Qld Literary Awards are growing from strength to strength under the banner of the State Library of Queensland and a bevy of eminent sponsors.
The 2015 shortlists have just been announced and the winners will be revealed at the Awards Ceremony on Friday 9th October in Brisbane.
Some categories showcase Queensland authors. These include the Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance
Shortlisted authors are:
The impressive Ellen van Neerven for Heat and Light (University of Queensland Press)
Zoe Boccabella Joe’s Fruit Shop and Milk Bar (Harper Collins Publishers)
Mark Bahnisch Queensland; Everything you ever wanted to know, but were afraid to ask (NewSouth Publishing)
Anna Bligh Through the Wall: Reflections on Leadership, Love and Survival (Harper Collins Publishers)
Libby Connors Warrior (Allen & Unwin)
Emerging Queensland Writer – Manuscript Award
Imogen Smith Araluen
Elizabeth Kasmer Aurora
W. George Sargasso
Kate Elkington Wool Spin Burn
Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Awards
Megan McGrath, Program Coordinator at the Brisbane Writers Festival
It is impressive how these state awards nurture and promote Qld authors.
The Qld Literary Awards are also notable for their support of Indigenous authors with the David Unaipon Award for Unpublished Indigenous Writer –
Andrew Booth The First Octoroon or Report of an Experimental Child
Mayrah Yarragah Dreise Social Consciousness Series
Patricia Lees with Adam C. Lees A Question of Colour
Other categories celebrate the finest Australian writers (and some illustrators) across the country.
These include the
Griffith University Children’s Book Award
Meg McKinlay A Single Stone (Walker Books Australia)
Tasmin Janu Figgy in the World (Omnibus Books)
David Mackintosh Lucky (Harper Collins Publishers)
Nick Earls New Boy (Penguin)
Rebecca Young and Matt Ottley Teacup (Scholastic Australia)
There was a strong selection of novels, picture books and others to whittle down into a shortlist this year.
Griffith University Young Adult Book Award
Darren Groth Are You Seeing Me? (Random House Australia)
Justine Larbalestier Razorhurst (Allen & Unwin) This won the Aurealis spec fiction award for Horror Novel.
Diana Sweeney The Minnow (Text Publishing) This was a CBCA Honour Book.
John Larkin The Pause (Random House Australia)
Jeri Kroll Vanishing Point (Puncher and Wattman)
I have read these except for Vanishing Point and so am now keen to read this also. It’s great to see a publisher I know for its poetry publishing YA.
University of Queensland Fiction Book Award
Amanda Lohrey A Short History of Richard Kline (Black Inc)
Joan London The Golden Age (Random House Australia) Reviewed here
Mark Henshaw The Snow Kimono (Text Publishing) Reviewed here
Malcolm Knox The Wonder Lover (Allen & Unwin)
Rohan Wilson To Name Those Lost (Allen & Unwin)
University of Queensland Non-fiction Book Award
Brenda Niall Mannix (Text Publishing)
Don Watson The Bush: Travels in the Heart of Australia (Penguin)
Anne Manne The Life of I: The New Culture of Narcissism (Melbourne University Press)
Annabel Crabb The Wife Drought (Random House Australia)
Karen Lamb Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather (University of Queensland Press)
University of Southern Queensland History Book Award
Carolyn Holbrook ANZAC, The Unauthorised Biography (NewSouth Publishing)
Angela Woollacott Settler Society in the Australian Colonies: Self-Government and Imperial Culture (Oxford University Press)
Christine Kenneally The Invisible History of the Human Race (Black Inc)
Agnieszka Sobocinska Visiting the Neighbours: Australians in Asia (NewSouth Publishing)
Sophie Cunningham Warning: The Story of Cyclone Tracy (Text Publishing)
University of Southern Queensland Australian Short Story Collection – Steele Rudd Award
Nic Low Arms Race and Other Stories (Text Publishing)
Nick Jose Bapo (Giramondo)
Ellen van Neerven Heat and Light (University of Queensland Press)
Christos Tsiolkas Merciless Gods (Allen & Unwin)
J.M. Coetzee Three Stories (Text Publishing
State Library of Queensland Poetry Collection – Judith Wright Calanthe Award
Susan Bradley Smith Beds for All Who Come (Five Islands Press)
Robert Adamson Net Needle (Black Inc)
David Brooks Open House (University of Queensland Press)
Lucy Dougan The Guardians (Giramondo)
Les Murray Waiting for the Past (Black Inc)
Thanks to the State Library of Queensland and supporters, including those who sponsor and give their names to specific awards.
And vote now until 5pm Friday 18 September 2015 for
The Courier-Mail 2015 People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year
Nick Earls Analogue Men
Inga Simpson Nest
Kari Gislason The Ash Burner
Zoe Boccabella Joe’s Fruit Shop and Milk Bar
John Ahern On the Road…With the Kids
David Murray The Murder of Allison Baden-Clay
Mary Lou Simpson From Convict to Politician