The winners of the 2007 NSW Premier's Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted works for the awards are also listed on the website.
Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($20,000)
Peter Carey, Theft: a Love Story, Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Douglas Stewart Prize for Non Fiction ($20,000)
Robert Hughes, Things I Didn't Know: a Memoir, Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry ($15,000)
John Tranter, Urban Myths: 210 Poems, University of Queensland Press
Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature ($15,000)
Narelle Oliver, Home, Omnibus Books
Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature ($15,000)
Ursula Dubosarsky, The Red Shoe, Allen & Unwin
Play Award ($15,000)
Tommy Murphy, "Holding the Man" (adapted from the book by Timothy Conigrave, Griffin Theatre Company & Currency Press
Script Award ($15,000)
Tony Ayres, "The Home Song Stories", Porchlight Films & Big & Little Films
Community Relations Commission Award ($15,000)
Shaun Tan, The Arrival, Hachette Livre Australia
Gleebooks Prize for Critical Writing ($10,000)
Gideon Haigh, Asbestos House: the Secret History of James Hardie Industries, Scribe Publications Pty Ltd
UTS Award for New Writing ($5,000)
Tara June Winch, Swallow the Air, University of Queensland Press
Book of the Year (additional $2,000)
Shaun Tan, The Arrival, Hachette Livre Australia
Special Award ($5,000)
Gerald Murnane
NSW Premier's Translation Prize ($15,000) & PEN Medallion
John Nieuwenhuizen
Some interesting selections there: Carey's novel won from a field that includes all four of the works shortlisted for this year's Miles Franklin Award; and Shaun Tan winning Book of the Year. And I'm not criticising Shaun here. On the contrary, I'm shocked that the judges were able to see the worth of the work, a graphic novel with no words.
