16.Apr.2009 2009 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards

A few facts about the awards:

1. First awards were presented in 1979
2. It celebrates their 30th anniversary this year
3. In 1979, NSW became the first state in Australia to present Premier’s Literary Awards
4. The awards celebrate achievements by Australian writers

Admittedly, I’ve never heard of this award before until I’m back in NSW. I’ve also never heard of the books shortlisted apart from Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan, whose 2 books I just borrowed from library 2 days ago. (I think I first knew about Shaun Tan from a fellow blogger, but I can’t remember who. Do you know who you are? Please shout or raise your hand! :)

Anyway, I’ll list a couple of the shortlists here. You could check out the NSW PLA website yourself for more.

Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000)

The Spare Room by Helen Garner
The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville
Disquiet by Julia Leigh
The Good Parents by Joan London
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
Breath by Tim Winton

Go here to see the covers.

Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature ($30,000)

The Word Spy by Ursula Dubosarsky & Tohby Riddle (illus)
How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham
Sadie and Ratz by Sonya Hartnett & Ann James (illus)
Perry Angel’s Suitcase by Glenda Millard & Stephen Michael King (illus)
Nobody Owns the Moon by Tohby Riddle
Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

Have any of you read one of these books? Or read the book by one of these authors? Please let me know! I’d love to hear if there’s any recommendation.

Go here to see past PLA winners from year 1979 to 2008. (Again, admittedly I’m mostly unfamiliar with the names of books and authors. Sure I know Peter Carey, but I’ve never picked up his work before.)

This event coincides with Sydney Writers’ Festival which is happening on May 18 to 24, 2009 (Winners will be presented on the 18th). Anyone’s going? Any of my reader is from Australia at all? LOL. I’m currently browsing the site to see if there’s any that I’m interested in.

On another note, I’ve been hearing about Kazuo Ishiguro’s new upcoming novel: Nocturnes for a few times now. I hope it’s gonna be good. Ishiguro will have one event at the festival, but I think it’s just via video link (video conference talk?). That’s lame. I want to see the real man!