The longlisted novels for the 2008 Miles Franklin Award were announced today. Fifty-nine novels were submitted for the award with nine chosen for the longlist.
The longlist:
Landscape of Farewell by Alex Miller, A&U
Love without Hope by Rodney Hall, Picador
Orpheus Lost by Janette Turner Hospital, Fourth Estate
Secrets of the Sea by Nicholas Shakespeare, Harvill Secker
Sorry by Gail Jones, Vintage
The Fern Tattoo by David Brooks, UQP
The Memory Room by Christopher Koch, Knopf
The Time We Have Taken by Steven Carroll, Fourth Estate
The Widow and Her Hero by Tom Keneally, Vintage
As usual there are a few surprises: why only nine books in the longlist when, presumably, the judges are going to name 5 or 6 for the shortlist?; no sign of The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon or The Children by Charlotte Wood; and only two women on the list. And it's interesting that no publisher has more than one entry on the longlist. The shortlist will be announced on 17th April, and the winner on 19th June.
