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Nam Le was awarded the 2008 Book of the Year on Monday night for his short story collection The Boat. He also picked up a rare double, netting the the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing. In presenting the award, Premier Rees said:
“Nam Le’s The Boat, is a collection of stories that cross national and cultural borders and allow the reader to experience the world from a wide range of viewpoints and voices.”
“It has been praised by local and international critics as one of the most astonishing literary debuts in recent memory.”
Other notable winners were Steve Toltz (People’s Choice award for A Fraction of the Whole), Joan London (Christina Stead Prize for Fiction for The Good Parents) and Cloe Hooper (Douglas Stewart Prize for non-fiction for The Tall Man).
I was also delighted by the judge’s decision to award the Ethel Turner Prize for young people’s literature to Michelle Cooper for her second book, A Brief History of Montmaray. I was a big fan of her debut novel, The Rage of Sheep and am pleased to see her get some recognition in a very competitive field.
The full list of Award winner is below.
2008 Book of the Year Award (additional $10,000)
Nam Le, The Boat, Penguin Group (Australia)
People’s Choice Award
Steve Toltz, A Fraction of the Whole, Penguin Group (Australia)
Special Award ($20,000)
This year the judges nominated Ms Katharine Brisbane AM for her service to Australian literature and theatre.
Christina Stead Prize for fiction ($40,000)
Joan London, The Good Parents, Random House Australia Pty Ltd (Vintage)
Douglas Stewart Prize for non-fiction ($40,000)
Chloe Hooper, The Tall Man: death and life on Palm Island, Penguin Group (Australia)
Kenneth Slessor Prize for poetry ($30,000)
L K Holt, Man Wolf Man, John Leonard Press
Patricia Wrightson Prize for children’s literature ($30,000)
Ursula Dubosarsky & Tohby Riddle (illus), The Word Spy, Penguin Group (Australia)
Ethel Turner Prize for young people’s literature ($30,000)
Michelle Cooper, A Brief History of Montmaray, Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Script Writing Award ($30,000)
Louis Nowra, Rachel Perkins & Beck Cole, First Australians, Blackfella Films, SBS
Play Award ($30,000)
Daniel Keene, The Serpent’s Teeth, Sydney Theatre Company, Currency Press Pty Ltd
Community Relations Commission Award ($15,000, sponsored by the CRC)
Eric Richards, Destination Australia: migration to Australia since 1901, University of New South Wales Press Ltd
Gleebooks Prize ($10,000, sponsored by Gleebooks)
David Love, Unfinished Business: Paul Keating’s interrupted revolution, Scribe Publications Pty Ltd
UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing ($5,000, sponsored by UTS)
Nam Le, The Boat, Penguin Group (Australia)
The Biennial NSW Premier’s Translation Prize ($30,000)
David Colmer for his translations from the Dutch.
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