The shortlist for the inaugural Barbara Jefferis award has been announced by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA).
The shortlist for the inaugural Barbara Jefferis award has been announced by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA).
Valued at $35,000, the award will be offered annually for ‘the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society.' It is named in memory of novelist Barbara Jefferis, a founding member of the ASA and its first female president. The award is paid from the Barbara Jefferis Literary Fund, established by a bequest from Barbara's husband, ABC film critic John Hinde.
The judges for the inaugural Award are academic Leigh Dale, the Australian's literary editor Deborah Hope and novelist Rosie Scott.
Shortlisted
The Lost Dog (Michelle de Kretser, Allen & Unwin)
The Anatomy of Wings (Karen Foxlee, UQP)
Feather Man (Rhyll McMaster, Brandl & Schlesinger)
The Seamstress (Geraldine Wooller, UWA Press)
Highly commended
Burning In (Mireille Juchau, Giramondo)
The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles (Elizabeth Stead, UQP)
The winner will be announced on Friday 28 March.
This article from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker