The Prime Minister's Literary Awards Shortlist for 2024 has been announced. These awards have a significant prize pool ($600K) and serve to recognise 'established and emerging Australia writers, illustrators, poets and historians'.
Here are the 2024 shortlisted titles in the categories I have most interest in.
Fiction
- Andre Dao - Anam
- Kate Grenville - Restless Dolly Maunder
- Melissa Lucashenko - Edenglassie
- Catherine McNamara - The Carnal Fugues
- Charlotte Wood - Stone Yard Devotional
I have read and adored the novels by Grenville and Wood. I started the Lucashenko when it was longlisted for the Stella Prize, but got waylaid and will need to return to it. Dao was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. I had not heard of McNamara but her nominated collection of short stories sounds quite interesting.
Non-Fiction
- Daniel Browning - Close to the Subject: Selected Works
- Sarah Firth - Eventually Everything Connects
- Maggie McKellar - Graft: Motherhood, Failure and a Year on the Land
- Alex Miller - A Kind of Confession
- Harry Saddler - A Clear Flowing Yarra
I have read none of these shortlisted titles. Maggie McKeller was longlisted for the Stella Prize so I have heard of her book. I am familiar with Alex Miller's fiction so I am intrigued by his look at his writing life. Bundjalung and Kullilli journalist Browning's essays sound interesting as well. Nature writer Saddler's exploration of the Yarra River is not my cup of tea. I have just purchased Sara Firth's illustrated essays. I heard Firth speak at the 2022 Sydney Writers Festival, when she was pulling this collection together and it is one of the first books published by Nakkiah Lui's publishing house Joan.
Australian History
- Ryan Cropp - Donald Horne: A Life in the Lucky Country
- Rose Ellis - Bee Miles
- Kate Fullagar - Benelong and Phillip: A History Unravelled
- David Marr - Killing for Country: A Family Story
- Alecia Simmonds - Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law
I love David Marr and I am interested in his book about his own family's history as part of Australia's frontier wars. My mother has just finished it and thought it was exceptional. I am interested in Alecia Simmonds book about how jilted lovers could seek legal redress and have just ordered a copy. The other book that is of interest is Rose Ellis' look at Bee Miles, a bohemian character who did not conform to societal expectations.
The PM Literary awards also cover Children's Literature, Young Adult Literature and Poetry. For information on these categories and on all the nominated titles, see the Creative Australia website. The winners will be announced on 12 September 2024.