Tuesday 17 May 2016

NSW Premier's Literary Award 2016

I can barely keep up with the book awards season this year. The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards were presented at a ceremony in Sydney last night to mark the start of the Sydney Writers Festival

I must hang my head in shame at only having read one of these books. I have meant to read several others of course, although to continue the shame there are quite a few listed here that I'd never heard of. 

Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature

Tea and Sugar Christmas - Jane Jolly, Robert Ingpen
A Single Stone - Meg McKinlay
Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars - Martine Murray (see my review)




The Greatest Gatsby: A Visual Book of Grammar - Tohby Riddle
Flight - Nadia Wheatley and Armin Greder
Teacup - Rebecca Young and Matt Ottley (WINNER)



Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature


Napoleon with dinosaurs!
Battlesaurus:Rampage at Waterloo - Brian Falkner
Freedom Ride - Sue Lawson
Laurinda - Alice Pung (WINNER)
Welcome to Orphancorp - Marlee Jane Ward
The Peony Lantern - Frances Watts
The Guy, The Girl, The Artist and His Ex - Gabrielle Williams

I find it particularly interesting to see that a new category has been added this year- the Indigenous Writers Prize. I think it's great that it's been added, but saddened that it is only planned to be biennial. There were joint winners this year- Bruce Pascoe's Dark Emu and Ellen Van Neerven's Heat and Light, which surely suggests that there is more than enough talent to include the award annually like all the other categories, especially as Dark Emu went on to win Book of the Year.

1 comment:

Brona said...

I agree - Van Neervan's Heat and Light was a tremendous read and a very worthy winner. I'm very curious about Pascoe's book too.

I've just finished A Single Stone and can see why it's ending up n all the shortlists - I hope it wins one soon.