Tag: non-fiction

Winners of the Indie Book Awards Announcement.

Congratulations to the following books and their fabulous home-grown authors for winning in the following categories for the Indie Book Awards, especially Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend, which won in two categories! These winners were announced today and what a wonderful surprise to get home to!

nevermoor

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend: Children’s Book of the Year and Book of the Year

The Choke by Sophie Laguna: Fiction Winner

Wimmera by Michael Brandi: Debut Fiction Winner

Native: Art & Design with Australian Plants by Kate Herd & Jela Ivankovic-Waters: Illustrated Non-Fiction Winner

Wilder Country by Mark Smith: Young Adult Winner

2018 is the first year that a children’s book – Nevermoor – has won overall, and it is even more special as this is the tenth year the Indie Awards have been running!

I’ve read Nevermoor and can say it’s well deserving of all the nominations, shortlists and prizes it has been winning as it is an engaging story and full of wonder and magic. Much like some other prize winners I have read, it captures the reader and their imagination, and opens up a world of possibilities to them. Of the others, I have Wimmera on my reading pile, as well as several of the long listed and shortlisted works, some of which I have also read.

Seeing such amazing books and many Australian authors getting the recognition they deserve is amazing, and shows that the love of books is still around.

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NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Shortlist for 2018

One of the Australia’s literary awards has just announced the shortlist for 2018 – The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, with the winner to be announced in April. Each category and the shortlisted novels for this prize are listed below for 2018, and information about each prize category can be found here in a previous post:

The Christina Stead Prize for Fiction:

Common People by Tony Birch, published by UQP

Seabirds Crying in the Harbour Dark by Catherine Cole, published by UWA

Pulse Points by Jennifer Down, published by Text Publishing

The Book of Dirt by Bram Presser, published by Text Publishing

The Restorer by Michael Sala, published by Text Publishing

Taboo by Kim Scott

Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction:

Victoria: The Woman Who Made the Modern World by Julia Baird, published by HarperCollins Publishers “A passion for exploring new countries” Matthew Flinders & George Bass by Josephine Bastian, published by Australian Scholarly Publishing

The Enigmatic Mr Deakin by Judith Brett, published by Text Publishing

Passchendaele: Requiem for Doomed Youth by Paul Ham, published by Penguin Random House Australia

The Green Bell: a memoir of love, madness and poetry by Paula Keogh, published by Affirm Press

The Boy Behind the Curtain by Tim Winton, published by Penguin Random House Australia

Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry:

Archipelago by Adam Aitken, published by Vagabond Press

Euclid’s dog: 100 algorithmic poems by Jordie Albiston, published by Gloria SMH Press

Bone Ink by Rico Craig, published by Guillotine Press

Argosy by Bella Li, published by Vagabond Press

Captive and Temporal by Nguyễn Tiên Hoàng, published by Vagabond Press

These Wild Houses by Omar Sakr, published by Cordite Books

Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature

The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrated by Van T Rudd, published by Hachette Australia

The Elephant by Peter Carnavas published by UQP

Blossom by Tamsin Janu, published by Omnibus Books for Scholastic Australia

Figgy Takes the City by Tamsin Janu, published by Omnibus Books for Scholastic Australia

How To Bee by Bren MacDibble, published by Allen & Unwin

The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear by Margrete Lamond and illustrated by Heather Vallance, published by Dirt Lane Press

Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature

In the Dark Spaces by Cally Black, published by Hardie Grant Egmont

the blue cat

The Blue Cat by Ursula Dubosarsky, published by Allen & Unwin

The Ones That Disappeared by Zana Fraillon, published by Hachette Australia

A Shadow’s Breath by Nicole Hayes, published by Penguin Random House Australia

The Build-Up Season by Megan Jacobson, published by Penguin Random House Australia

Ballad for a Mad Girl by Vikki Wakefield, published by Text Publishing

Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting

The Sound of Waiting by Mary Anne Butler, published by Brown’s Mart Arts Ltd

Rice by Michele Lee, Presented by Queensland Theatre and Griffin Theatre Company, published by Playlab

Black is the New White by Nakkiah Lui, published by Sydney Theatre Company

Mark Colvin’s Kidney by Tommy Murphy, published by Currency Press and Belvoir

Little Emperors by Lachlan Philpott, published by Malthouse Theatre

The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man by Tom Wright, published by Malthouse Theatre

Betty Rowland Prize for Scriptwriting

Deep Water: The Real Story written by Amanda Blue and Jacob Hickey – Blackfella Films

Top of the Lake: China Girl, Series 2 Episode 4 ‘Birthday’ by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee – See-Saw Films

Sweet Country by Steven McGregor and David Tranter – Bunya Productions

Seven Types of Ambiguity, Episode 2 ‘Alex’ by Jacquelin Perske – Matchbox Pictures

Please Like Me, Series 4 Episode 5 ‘Burrito Bowl’ by Josh Thomas, Thomas Ward and Liz Doran – Guesswork TV

Multicultural Award NSW

No More Boats by Felicity Castagna, published by Giramondo Publishing

The Permanent Resident by Roanna Gonsalves, published by UWA Publishing

Dark Convicts by Judy Johnson, published by UWA Publishing

The Family Law, Series 2 Episode 4 by Benjamin Law and Kirsty Fisher – Matchbox Pictures

Down the Hume by Peter Polites, published by Hachette Australia

Quicksilver by Nicholas Rothwell, published by Text Publishing

Indigenous Writer’s Prize

Finding Eliza: Power and Colonial Storytelling by Larissa Behrendt, published by UQP

Common People by Tony Birch, published by UQP

Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss, published by Simon & Schuster Australia

The Drover’s Wife by Leah Purcell published and produced by Currency Press and Belvoir in association with Oombarra Productions)

Taboo by Kim Scott, published by Pan Macmillam Australia

UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing

2018 Shortlist The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on 30 April 2018. There is no shortlist for this category.

About the award

  • The UTS Glenda Adams Award ($5,000) is for a published book of fiction written by an author who has not previously published a book-length work of narrative fiction or narrative non-fiction.

  • The Award seeks to recognise outstanding new literary talent. The winning author may produce an excellent piece of writing in a traditional fictional form or may challenge and expand the boundaries of the genre.

  • The winner of the UTS Glenda Adams Award is chosen from entries submitted for the Christina Stead Prize (no additional entry fee is required for this award).

  • Entrants who meet the UTS Glenda Adams Award criteria should indicate on the nomination form if they wish to be considered for the Award.

  • There may not be a shortlist in this category.

NSW Premier’s Translation Prize – Next awarded 2019

Multicultural NSW Early Career Translator Prize – Next awarded 2019

 

 

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Book Bingo Five – A foreign translated novel, a novel with a yellow cover, a novel by an Australian man, a funny book, a memoir and a non-fiction book.

book bingo 2018.jpgIn my fifth Book Bingo post for the year, I can report that I have a BINGO! The final row going down, row five, is complete, with three out of the five squares being filled with Australian Women Writers. The text version of the row is below:

AWW-2018-badge-rose

Row #5 (Down) – BINGO

 A Foreign Translated Novel: Babylon Berlin by Volker Kutschner (translated by Niall Seller

A book with themes of culture: The Sealwoman’s Gift by Sally Magnusson

A book with a mystery: Olmec Obituary by LJM Owen – AWW2018

A book with a number in the title: Four Respectable Ladies Seek Part-Time Husband by Barbara Toner – AWW2018

A book written by someone over sixty: Eventual Poppy Day by Libby Hathorn – AWW2018

babylon berlinOf these, the latest addition is a foreign translated novel – Babylon Berlin by Volker Kutschner, translated by Niall Seller and sent to me by Allen and Unwin to review. It is the first in a crime series by a German author, set during the dying years of the Weimar Republic in the inter-war period, when the world is inching towards the Great Depression. It centres around Detective Gereon Rath, and the crimes he solves, and the things that he overlooks, the various underworld activities that are accepted in dark corners, but not always out in the open. I did like the idea behind this, and the historical backdrop, however, as stated in my review, I felt some things dragged on a bit, making these sections a tad slow but the fast-paced sections were what really drove the novel and gave it the oomph that it needed.

tin manI have five other squares to include – I am aiming to fill them with whatever works, and some will be Australian Women Writers, others won’t, it simply depends on where the books fit. First, is a novel with a yellow cover – Tin Man by Sarah Winman. It is the story of two gay men, whose first encounter has them ripped apart but then drawn back together as friends, with Annie, the wife of Ellis, one of the main characters. It is a touching story of the various ways we express our love, and to whom we choose to express that love. With a touch of realism about it, it touches on fears as well as love.

Skin-in-the-Game_cover-for-publicity-600x913My memoir square has been filled by Skin in the Game: The Pleasure and Pain of Telling True Stories by Sonia Voumard. In a series of essays, Sonia tells her story about being a journalist, and the daughter of a World War Two refugee – her mother, with humour and frankness, and an honesty that shines a light on some of the challenges faced by journalists behind the scenes of stories, interviews and publications, and how they try to overcome these under increasing pressure of a 24 hour news cycle, where the demand for facts and results at all times seems to be a struggle to keep up with. It is insightful and gives a new appreciation for what journalists do and at times go through for me.

grandpa me poetryThe book taking up the square of a funny novel has not been published yet, so the longer review will be linked here when it goes live. Grandpa, Me and Poetry by Sally Morgan, and published by Scholastic. It is the story of Melly, who loves poetry and her Grandpa. When given the chance to explore her two loves, she jumps at it, and through a series of amusing scenes with funny rhymes, she finds a way to write a wonderful poem for Family Day.

the opal dragonflyThe novel by Australian Man square was filled by new release, The Opal Dragonfly by Julian Leatherdale, about Isobel Macleod, youngest of seven and her father’s favourite, and the opal dragonfly brooch left to her by her mother that sees hard times befall the family through a series of tragedies over the years that they can never recover from. It is about family loyalty, betrayal and finding oneself in the harshest of circumstances, and finding a new life for yourself

spinning topsSpinning Tops and Gum Drops: A Portrait of Colonial Childhood fills the non-fiction square. Using images and statements, and other stories from the time, Edwin Barnard has created a window into a world where the realities of childhood were vastly different to those for today’s children. It tells of a time when threats from illness and bushrangers were ever present, where children had to work as well as go to school, and in some cases, instead of going to school. It is interesting and gives a window into colonial life beyond text on a page.  

Look out for my next Book Bingo in a few weeks time!

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Australian Book Industry Awards Longlist 2018

The ABIA Longlist has also been announced today for 2018, and celebrates the diversity and quality of Australian writing, publishing and bookselling. The ABIA Academy – a group of booksellers, agents, media and industry representatives – voted for the longlist, and the 2018 campaign was long and exhaustive, resulting in this year’s academy having 250 members.

A shortlist will be announced of the nineteenth of April, and the winners announced at the ABIA Awards on the 3rd of May, at the International Convention Centre in Sydney. The ABIA awards have been sponsored by: The Australian Women’s Weekly, JC Decaux, Media Super, Audible, Opus, Booktopia, Curtis Brown, Ingram, Nielsen Bookscan, Leading Edge Books, Simpsons Solicitors, John Fisher Printing, and industry partners, ABA, ALIA, APA, ASA, BorrowBox, The Copyright Agency, Books + Publishing and the Children’s Book Council.

The award has twelve categories, and below are the long-lists for each category:

BioAbia2018

Biography Book of the Year

  • A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work, Bernadette Brennan (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
  • Danger Music, Eddie Ayres (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
  • The Enigmatic Mr Deakin, Judith Brett (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
  • Tracker, Alexis Wright (Giramondo Publishing, Giramondo Publishing Company)
  • Unbreakable, Jelena Dokic and Jess Halloran (Ebury Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Unmasked, Turia Pitt (Ebury Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Wednesdays with Bob, Derek Rielly and Bob Hawke (Macmillan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia,)
  • Working Class Man, Jimmy Barnes (HarperCollins Publishers, HarperCollins Publishers)

General-Fiction-Book-AWW-Sqaure

General Fiction Book of the Year

  • Force of Nature, Jane Harper (Macmillan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)
  • On the Java Ridge, Jock Serong (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
  • The Dark Lake, Sarah Bailey (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
  • The Girl from Munich, Tania Blanchard (Simon & Schuster Australia, Simon & Schuster Australia)
  • The Inaugural Meeting Of The Fairvale Ladies Book Club, Sophie Green (Hachette, Hachette Australia)
  • The Secrets She Keeps, Michael Robotham (Hachette, Hachette Australia)
  • The Tea Gardens, Fiona McIntosh (Michael Joseph Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • The Trip of A Lifetime, Monica McInerney (Michael Joseph Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)

GENERAL-NON-FICTION-BOOK-OF-THE-YEAR-Copyright-Agency-Square

General Non-fiction Book of the Year

  • Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness, Kate Cole-Adams (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
  • Being 14,Madonna King (Hachette, Hachette Australia)
  • Depends What You Mean By Extremist, John Safran (Hamish Hamilton Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • First, We Make The Beast Beautiful, Sarah Wilson (Macmillan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)
  • Not Just Lucky, Jamila Rizvi (Viking Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Saga Land, Richard Fidler and Kári Gíslason (ABC Books, HarperCollins Publishers)
  • Taming Toxic People, David Gillespie (Macmillan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)
  • The Harbour: A City’s Heart, A Country’s Soul, Scott Bevan (Simon & Schuster Australia, Simon & Schuster Australia)
  • The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster, Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)

ABIA2018_Illustrated

Illustrated Book of the Year

  • Basics to Brilliance Kids, Donna Hay (Fourth Estate, HarperCollins Publishers)
  • Cornersmith: Salads and Pickles, Alex Elliott-Howery and Sabine Spindler (Murdoch Books, Murdoch Books)
  • Hummus and Co, Michael Rantissi and Kristy Frawley (Murdoch Books, Murdoch Books)
  • Maggie’s Recipe for Life, Maggie Beer and Professor Ralph Martins (A Julie Gibbs Book for Simon & Schuster Australia, Simon & Schuster Australia)
  • Native: Art and Design with Australian Plants, Kate Herd and Jela Ivankovic-Waters (Thames & Hudson Australia, Thames & Hudson Australia)
  • Ostro, Julia Busuttil Nishimura (Plum, Pan Macmillan Australia)
  • Paris: Through a Fashion Eye, Megan Hess (Hardie Grant Books, Hardie Grant Publishing)
  • The Vegetable, Caroline Griffiths and Vicki Valsamis (Smith Street Books, Smith Street Books)

International-Book-of-the-Year-Square

International Book of the Year

  • Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman (HarperCollins Publishers, HarperCollins Publishers)
  • Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, Elena Favilli and Francesa Cavallo (Particular Books -UK Juvenile, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Here We Are: Notes For Living On Planet Earth, Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins Publishers, HarperCollins Publishers)
  • Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)
  • La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One, Philip Pullman (David Fickling Books, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders (Bloomsbury Publishing, Bloomsbury Publishing)
  • Mythos, Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph – UK, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • The Sun and her Flowers, Rupi Kaur (Simon & Schuster UK, Simon & Schuster UK)

LITERARY-FICTION-BOOK-OF-THE-YEAR-longlist-SQUARE

Literary Fiction Book of the Year

  • A Long Way Home, Peter Carey (Hamish Hamilton Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Australia Day, Melanie Cheng (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
  • First Person, Richard Flanagan (Knopf Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt (Hachette, Hachette Australia)
  • Taboo, Kim Scott (Picador Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)
  • The Choke, Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
  • The Life to Come, Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
  • Wimmera, Mark Brandi (Hachette, Hachette Australia)

SMALL-PUBLISHERS-ADULT-BOOK-OF-THE-YEAR-SQUARE

Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year

  • Atlantic Black, A. S. Patric (Transit Lounge, Transit Lounge)
  • Call of the Reed Warbler – A New Agriculture – A New Earth, Charles Massy (The University of Queensland Press, The University of Queensland Press)
  • Cardinal, Louise Milligan (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne University Publishing)
  • Journeys into the Wild: The Photography of Peter Dombrovskis, Introduction & Commentary by Bob Brown (NLA Publishing, National Library of Australia)
  • The Australian Bird Guide, Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack and Kim Franklin (CSIRO Publishing, CSIRO Publishing)
  • The Restorer, Michael Sala (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
  • Museum of Words, Georgia Blain (Scribe Publications, Scribe Publications)
  • Mirror Sydney, Vanessa Berry (Giramondo Publishing, Giramondo Publishing Company)

small-publishers-childrens-book-longlist-SQUARE

Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year

  • At the Beach I See, Kamsani Bin Salleh (Magabala Books, Magabala Books)
  • At the Zoo I See, Joshua Button and Robyn Wells (Magabala Books, Magabala Books)
  • Big Fella Rain, Beryl Webber and illustrated by Fern Martins (Magabala Books, Magabala Books)
  • Hello, Melbourne!, Megan McKean (Thames & Hudson Australia, Thames & Hudson Australia)
  • It’s OK to Feel the Way You Do, Josh Langley (Big Sky Publishing, Big Sky Publishing)
  • The Elephant, Peter Carnavas (The University of Queensland Press, The University of Queensland Press)
  • Slow Down, World, Tai Snaith (Thames & Hudson Australia, Thames & Hudson Australia)
  • Under the Love Umbrella, Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys (Scribble Kids’ Books, Scribe Publications)

THE-MATT-RICHELL-AWARD-FOR-NEW-WRITER-OF-THE-YEAR-Simpsons-WIDE-Square

The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year

BOTY_OlderChildrenlonglist-SQUARE

Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)

  • Beautiful Mess, Claire Christian (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
  • Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, Amie Kaufman, Melissa Keil, Will Kostakis, Ellie Marney, Jaclyn Moriarty, Michael Pryor, Alice Pung, Gabrielle Tozer, Lili Wilkinson and Danielle Binks (HarperCollins Publishers, HarperCollins Publishers)
  • Frogkisser!,Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
  • My Life as a Hashtag, Gabrielle Williams (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
  • Take Three Girls, Simmone Howell, Cath Crowley and Fiona Wood (Pan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)
  • Tales From a Tall Forest, Shaun Micallef and illustrated by Jonathan Bentley (Hardie Grant Egmont, Hardie Grant Egmont)
  • The Silent Invasion, James Bradley (Pan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)
  • Untidy Towns, Kate O’Donnell (The University of Queensland Press, The University of Queensland Press)

Younger-Children-square

Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-12)

  • Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase, Peter Helliar and illustrated by Lesley Vamos (Hardie Grant Egmont, Hardie Grant Egmont)
  • Funny Kid for President, Matt Stanton (ABC Books, HarperCollins Publishers)
  • Maybe, Morris Gleitzman (Viking – AU YR, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Nevermoor, Jessica Townsend (Lothian Children’s Books, Hachette Australia)
  • Polly and Buster: The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster, Sally Rippin (Hardie Grant Egmont, Hardie Grant Egmont)
  • The Bad Guys Episode 6, Aaron Blabey (Scholastic Press, Scholastic Australia)
  • The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, Jaclyn Moriarty (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
  • The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Rome, Katrina Nannestad (ABC Books, HarperCollins Publishers)
  • The 91-Storey Treehouse, Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton (Pan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)

PICTURE-BOOK-longlist-Square

Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)

  • Do Not Lick This Book, Idan Ben-Barak and illustrated by Julian Frost (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
  • Florette, Anna Walker (Viking – AU YR, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • I Just Ate My Friend, Heidi McKinnon (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
  • I’m Australian Too, Mem Fox and illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh (Scholastic Press, Scholastic Australia)
  • Mopoke, Philip Bunting (Scholastic Press, Scholastic Australia)
  • Pig the Star, Aaron Blabey (Scholastic Press, Scholastic Australia)
  • No One Likes a Fart, Zoë Foster Blake (Viking – AU YR, Penguin Random House Australia)
  • The Bum Book, Kate Mayes and illustrated by Andrew Joyner (ABC Books, HarperCollins Publishers)
  • The Very Noisy Baby, Alison Lester (Affirm Press, Affirm Press)

Some books have been nominated for several other prxizes, and I would not be surprised if Nevermoor takes out Book of the Year for Younger Children. There are a few on these lists I have read, and several more I am planning on reading. I look forward to future announcements for this prize.

Booktopia

Skin in the Game: The Pleasure and Pain of Telling True Stories by Sonya Voumard

Skin-in-the-Game_cover-for-publicity-600x913.jpgTitle: Skin in the Game: The Pleasure and Pain of Telling True Stories

Author: Sonya Voumard

Genre: Non-fiction/Essays

Publisher: Transit Lounge

Published: 1st March 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages: 224

Price: $27.99

Synopsis: Stella Prize long-listed author Sonya Voumard’s Skin in the Game is original, incisive and hugely entertaining.  The daughter of a European refugee mother and a journalist father, Voumard recounts with aplomb her passionate but questioning relationship with journalism and the nature of the interview. There’s a disastrous 1980 university encounter with Helen Garner which forms the seed for her fascination with the dynamics of the interview and culminates in her connecting again with Garner more than three decades later to work out what went so wrong. There are the insights of a career played out against the changing nature of journalism including the author’s time as a Canberra correspondent. And there are revealing and tender portraits of Kings Cross, of growing up in suburban Melbourne, her father’s love of journalism, and a family journey to the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre where her mother’s Australian life began.

Throughout it all Voumard is a sharpshooter, never afraid to hold a mirror up to her own life and practices as a journalist, to dig deep into the ethics of journalism and the use of power, and to sensitively explore the intertwined nature of life and work and personal relationships. The writing is at turns sharp, funny, direct, strong and affectionate.

‘I’ve immense admiration for how Sonya Voumard so deftly wields a writer’s scalpel, both on her subjects and herself. Together, these dispatches provide a fascinating insider’s account of Australian journalism and a forensic look into the myriad pitfalls involved in telling people’s stories.’ Benjamin Law, author of The Family Law and Gaysia

Stella Longlisted in 2017 for The Media and the Massacre: Port Arthur 1996-2016 (2016).

~*~

AWW-2018-badge-roseIn a series of essays, Sonya Voumard explores the dynamics of journalism in the eighties and nineties, and interview techniques that work, and ones that don’t, the challenges of keeping records and subjects denying what has been said, even if it has been recorded, and the role journalism played in politics and the way it has changed since her days in the press gallery. In the midst of this, are family stories of running from war and oppression, as refugees and what it was like being the children of a refugee mother, and the interactions they had in their social circles – some with similarities, some completely individual, and the quest for family identity and sense of self. Within these essays, Voumard has made cautious and intriguing links to each story, so that they can be read in order or dipped in and out of.

Starting with her experiences as a child, Voumard tells of her family history – her journalist father, an Australian, and refugee mother from Estonia, who fled war-torn Europe with her mother and step-father in the years after the war – a story that is explored in depth in one of the final essays, on a pilgrimage to Estonia, where hints of Russian occupation still stand, in a country that has only been independent for two decades, and where attitudes seen as immoral or abhorrent, or maybe just ignorant in Australia, are acceptable there. Voumard’s journey to becoming a journalist began young, and she recounts her early days at university, studying journalism and having to write a political biography. Aiming high, she conducts her first interview with Helen Garner – a disastrous encounter that will take two decades to repair and be given a chance to write another profile.

As a journalist, she has travelled throughout Australia, part of the political gallery, and taking part in cadetships where the boy’s club was present around her, with an amusing anecdote about her standing up to them, leaving them in shock at what she said. She does not shy away from the challenges of journalism. In many places, she discusses the challenges of the interview – that even when something has been recorded and agreed to be recorded during an interview, and an ethics code followed, stories can still be pulled. She speaks of the frustration this can bring and the need to respect a subject’s wishes as well.

The experiences and challenges she speaks of in the journalistic world show the behind the scenes challenges that journalists faced and still face, as the world of journalism changed, and the pace quickened, and morphed into a 24/7 news cycle that never stops – and how it became a struggle to keep up, to keep editors happy, the public informed and maintain a sense of ethics and truth within the stories she wrote and reported on – the pleasure was in seeking and gaining these stories, the pain in how to deliver them truthfully and morally, but within tightening deadlines that might not always have allowed for checking and re-checking. She speaks of the politicians she encountered, and the ones she admired, and didn’t admire or like – she’s not shy about naming them, or being critical, but still fair, especially when it came to Julia Gillard and her challenges.

Reading about the challenges of journalism from the inside, and the ups and downs of telling stories for people or helping them tell their story gives an understanding of what is expected in the media, and that the demands put onto journalists doesn’t always come through when the public face is presented, or the story is published. Having studied communications and writing, the interview stories were amusing and interesting to me.

An intriguing read about the ethics and inner workings of journalism, and the challenges these present, coupled with family stories that all link together to tell Sonya’s story.

Booktopia

2018 NSW PREMIER’S LITERARY AWARDS

The NSW Government has a long tradition of celebrating and connecting the public with art and literature. The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards are an opportunity to highlight the importance of literacy and literature, whilst enjoying and learning from the work of our writers in NSW and Australia. Like other literary awards, this award in highlighting the spectacular Australian Literature Australian writers produce, highlights and honours the achievements of Australia’s writers, and their artistic contributions to society, but also to highlight our literary achievements to the world. The State Library administers the awards.AWW-2018-badge-rose

The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have more categories than the Victorian awards. These categories are:

Christina Stead Prize for Fiction

2017 Winner: The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose

2017 Shortlist: Vancouver #3 in the series Wisdom Tree by Nick Earls

Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers by Ryan O’Neill

Where the Light Falls by Gretchen Shirm

After the Carnage by Tara June Winch

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood.

UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing

2017 Winner: Letter to Pessoa by Michelle Cahil

2017 Shortlist:

The Memory Artist by Katherine Brabon

Dodge Rose by Jack Cox

Our Magic Hour by Jennifer Down

Portable Curiosities by Julie Koh

The Bonobo’s Dream by Rose Mulready

Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction

2017 Winner: Our Man Elsewhere: In Search of Alan Moorehead by Thornton McCamish

2017 Shortlist: Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner

Talking to My Country by Stan Grant

The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft by Tom Griffiths

Avalanche by Julia Leigh

Prince of Darkness: The Untold Story of Jeremiah G. Hamilton, Wall Street’s First Black Millionaire by Shane White

Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry

2017 Winner: Ghostspeaking by Peter Boyle

2017 Shortlist: Burnt Umber by Paul Hetherington

Breaking the Days by Jill Jones

Fragments by Antigone Kefala

Firebreaks: Poems by John Kinsella

Comfort Food by Ellen van Neerven

Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature

2017 Winner: One Thousand Hills by James Roy and Noël Zihabamwe

2017 Shortlist: Elegy by Jane Abbott

The Ghost by the Billabong by Jackie French 

the-ghost-by-the-billabong

The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis

The Boundless Sublime by Lili Wilkinson

One Would Think the Deep by Claire Zorn

Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature

2017 Winner: Iris and the Tiger by Leanne Hall

2017 Shortlist: Magrit by Lee Battersby and Amy Daoud

Something Wonderful by Raewyn Caisley and Karen Blair

Desert Lake Pamela Freeman and Liz Anelli

Figgy and the President by Tamsin Janu

Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy

Nick Enright Prize For Playwriting

 

2017 Winner: The Drover’s Wife by Leah Purcell

2017 Shortlist:  The Hanging by Angela Betzein

You, Me and the Space Between by Finegan Kruckemeyer

Ladies Day by Alana Valentine

Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting

2017 Winner: The Code – Series 2, Episode 4 by Shelley Birse

2017 Shortlist: Down Under by Abe Forsythe

Sucker by Lawrence Leung and Ben Chessel

The Kettering Incident episode 1 by Victoria Madden

Afghanistan: Inside Australia’s War by Victoria Midwinter Pitt

Cleverman Episode 5 “Terra Nullius” by Michael Miller

Multicultural NSW Award

 2017 Winner: The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke

2017 Shortlist: Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus and Nauru by Madeline Gleeson

Not Quite Australian: How Temporary Migration is Changing the Nation by Peter Mares

Of Ashes and Rivers that Run to the Sea by Marie Munkara

Promising Azra Helen Thurloe – on my To Be Read pile.

The Fighter: A True Story by Arnold Zable

NSW Premier’s Translation Prize

 2017 Winner: Royall Tyler

2017 Shortlist: J.M.Q Davies

Penny Hueston

Jennifer Lindsay

Multicultural NSW Early Career Translation Prize

 2017 Winner: Jan Owen

2017 Shortlist: Christopher Williams

Indigenous Writer’s Prize – Biennial Prize Next Awarded in 2018

Last awarded in 2016.

2016 Winners: Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe and Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven

2016 Shortlist: Ghost River by Tony Birch

Inside My Mother by Ali Cobby Eckermann

Dirty Words by Natalie Harkin

Not Just Black and White by Lesley Williams and Tammy Williams

Other Awards:

NSW Prize for Literature

2017 Winner: The Drover’s Wife by Leah Purcell

People’s Choice Award

 2017 Winner: Vancouver #3 in the series Wisdom Tree by Nick Earls

 Special Award

 The Special Award was last awarded to Rosie Scott AM in 2016.

Across these twelve categories and the three additional ones, there is a diverse range of authors and stories, that tell of personal experiences, imagined worlds and that draw on history and the world the authors have lived that led them to write these books. Each prize I have looked at so far has shown a different degree of diversity, with this one having a broader range, if only because it has more categories than the others I have looked at. Last year’s winners and nominees are in good company with past winners Peter Carey, David Malouf AO, Elizabeth Jolley, Thomas Keneally AO and Helen Garner.

Each prize has a different amount of money, and further details can be found in the provided links. In 2018, the total prize money, including sponsored awards is up to $305 000, and to be nominated for any of these awards, the writer and illustrator must be living Australian citizens or hold permanent resident status.

Taken from the website:

The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards are presented by the NSW Government and administered by the State Library in association with Create NSW. We are pleased to acknowledge the support of Multicultural NSW and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

The 2018 winners will be announced on 30 April 2018.The short-list will be announced in March.

Purchase any of the above books here:

Booktopia

The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony with Grahame Spence

elephant whisperer.jpgTitle: The Elephant Whisperer

Author: Lawrence Anthony with Grahame Spence

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography

Publisher: Pan MacMillan

Published: 1st July 2012

Format: Paperback

Pages: 288

Price: $24.99

Synopsis: When South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of rogue elephants on his reserve at Thula Thula, his common-sense told him to refuse. But he was the herd’s last chance of survival – notorious escape artists, they would all be killed if Lawrence wouldn’t take them. He agreed, but before arrangements for the move could be completed the animals broke out again and the matriarch and her baby were shot. The remaining elephants were traumatised and very angry. As soon as they arrived at Thula Thula they started planning their escape…

As Lawrence battled to create a bond with the elephants and save them from execution, he came to realise that they had a lot to teach him about love, loyalty and freedom. Set against the background of life on the reserve, with unforgettable characters and exotic wildlife, this is a delightful book that will appeal to animal lovers everywhere.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Lawrence Anthony is a highly-respected conservationist and co-founder of The Earth Organization. His previous title, Babylon’s Ark, about his involvement in saving the animals in Baghdad Zoo, is being made into a major film. Graham Spence is a freelance journalist and author.

~*~

In the Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) region of South Africa, there are many game reserves that host smaller, private game lodges that are dedicated to the protection and conservation of African animals such as elephants and rhinos, hunted for their horns. Thula Thula, the reserve and lodge where Lawrence Anthony lived and worked up until his death several years ago was one such park. When Anthony and his partner, Francoise arrived at Thula Thula, they were soon asked to take a rampaging herd of elephants from another game park before they had to be culled. Lawrence took these elephants in, and spent years building up trust, to a point where they knew him and his family, and where they would visit him to show off new additions, and greet him as he arrived home from overseas.  Lawrence’s experiences with the elephants always amaze him and leave him, and those he works and lives with in awe of these majestic creatures.

Written in 2012 about the previous ten years or so, The Elephant Whisperer shows the beauty of elephants, and what they can teach us, and the amazing side to them that so many don’t get to see. The elephants are central to the book and Lawrence’s experiences with poachers, staff, snakes and family, and their comforting presence at times of distress and highly emotional times illustrates the special relationship Lawrence had with the herd and what he observed in these creatures.

Filled with frustrating, triumphant and heartbreaking moments, Lawrence Anthony’s personality and sense of self and justice shines through and the story is engaging and engrossing – from his battle to get the elephants to Thula Thula, to his negotiations with the Zulu tribes and desire to communicate across cultures and respect each human and animal he works with, to his battle with the poachers in the early part of the book, there is a passion that ensures his love of elephants and legacy lives in through his words and work at Thula Thula.