Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) - The Trust Company announces longlist for the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award

Thirteen novels and authors contend for Australia’s most prestigious literary prize.

IBNA: According to news, the Trust Company, as Trustee of The Franklin Fund today announced the highly anticipated longlist for the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award, from which the winner of the $50,000 prize will be announced in June.

In a bumper year for the Award, 13 novels have been included in the longlist, reflecting the strength and quality of the 61 entries.

Established by writer, Miles Franklin, to support and encourage authors of Australian literature, the Miles Franklin Literary Award is Australia’s oldest and most prestigious literary prize. The winner of the award will receive $50,000 for the novel of the year judged to be of the highest literary merit which “must present Australian life in any of its phases”.

The 13 entries in the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist include:

Tony Birch
Blood
University of Queensland Press

Steven Carroll
The Spirit of Progress
Fourth Estate (HarperCollins Publishers Australia)

Mark Dapin
Spirit House
Pan Macmillan Australia

Virginia Duigan
The Precipice
Vintage (Random House Australia)

Anna Funder
All That I Am
Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Group (Australia))

Kate Grenville
Sarah Thornhill
The Text Publishing Company

Gail Jones
Five Bells
Vintage (Random House Australia)

Gillian Mears
Foal's Bread
Allen & Unwin

Alex Miller
Autumn Laing
Allen & Unwin

Frank Moorhouse
Cold Light
Vintage (Random House Australia)

Favel Parrett
Past the Shallows
Hachette Australia (Hachette imprint)

Elliot Perlman
The Street Sweeper
Vintage (Random House Australia)

Charlotte Wood
Animal People
Allen & Unwin

Judging the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award is Richard Neville, State Library of New South Wales Mitchell Librarian, Professor Gillian Whitlock, Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow at the University of Queensland, Murray Waldren, journalist and columnist at The Australian newspaper, Anna Low, a Sydney based bookseller and Dr Julianne Schultz AM, founding editor of Griffith REVIEW.

The 2012 shortlist will be announced on 3 May at the State Library of New South Wales with the winner announced at an award event at the State Library of Queensland on 20 June 2012.

Speaking on behalf of the judging panel, Professor Whitlock said former winners, literary legends and emerging stars from across Australia were included in one of the longest lists in the 58 year history of the prize.

“The 2012 list reflects the strength of historical fiction in the contemporary novel. Entries this year include the third and final novels in the historical trilogies by Frank Moorhouse and Kate Grenville, fictional historical biographies by Steven Carroll, Anna Funder and Alex Miller and fictional narratives of World War II by Mark Dapin and Elliot Perlman. These, along with the haunting contemporary novels by Tony Birch, Charlotte Wood, Virginia Duigan, Gail Jones and Favel Parrett, make for a very tight 2012 contest,” Professor Whitlock said.

John Atkin, CEO of The Trust Company said it had been encouraging to see such a varied collection of books in the longlist and hoped the strength of the list would rouse debate in literary circles.

“The Trust Company is extremely proud to be associated with the Miles Franklin Award and as Trustee we are constantly working to maintain and develop the legacy Miles Franklin entrusted us with for the advancement of Australian literature,” Mr Atkin said.

This year The Trust Company will be taking the Miles Franklin Literary Award on the road to Perth for an Oration with last year’s winner Kim Scott, and to Canberra for the shortlist events in late May to further promote Australian literature nationally.

“It is especially important in 2012, the Year of Reading, that we continue to safeguard Miles Franklin’s legacy to support and further develop Australian literature,” Mr Atkin said.

The 2011 winner of the $50,000 prize was Kim Scott for his novel, That Deadman Dance.

More information on the Miles Franklin Literary Award, applications and deadlines can be found on the Miles Franklin website.

About the Miles Franklin Literary Award:
The Trust Company Limited is trustee for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. - My Brilliant Career author Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin left the residue of her estate to establish the award in 1954. Celebrating Australian character and creativity, the Award was established to support authors for the advancement, improvement and betterment of Australian literature. Last year’s winner of the $50,000 prize was Kim Scott for his novel, That Deadman Dance.

Copyright Agency Limited’s (CAL) Cultural Fund is a proud supporter of the Miles Franklin Literary Award.