Keneally, Nannestad win $100K Historical Novel Prize
Tom Keneally has won the $50,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize in the adult category for Corporal Hitler’s Pistol (Penguin), while Katrina Nannestad has won the $30,000 children and young adult (CYA) category for the second year running for Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief (ABC Books).
According to adult judging panel chair Angelo Loukakis, ‘Corporal Hitler’s Pistol is a richly imagined and vivid novel that moves the reader skilfully from WWI to the Irish Civil War, from rural Kempsey to Sydney and County Kerry during the first half and more of the 20th century. It is a novel that shows the impacts of the larger history of the world on individual lives and local histories, that tells of brutal wars and their wounds—whether felt on the skin or beneath—as brought home.’
The 2022 judging panel comprised Loukakis, Madison Shakespeare and Meg Keneally, who, ‘due to actual or perceived conflicts of interest’ withdrew from judging the shortlist and winner following the longlisting of Keneally, her father.
Nannestad has won the CYA category for the second year running, for her middle-grade novel Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief, with her WWII-set middle-grade novel We Are Wolves (ABC Books) awarded the inaugural CYA prize last year. Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief is also set during WWII, but this time in Russia during the Great Patriotic War.
‘Based on a true story of a boy soldier in the Red Army, Nannestad has created a beautiful, poignant and compelling narrative,’ said judging panel chair Paul McDonald. ‘The author’s gift is her ability to find the light in this story, to offer a tale that in the end still offers hope and love and joy. The writing is beautiful, the research seamless and the reader-appeal broad, the novel an ideal choice for readers aged 10 or 80.’
The 2022 judging panel for the CYA category comprised McDonald, Deborah Abela and Rachael King. The winners of both the adult and CYA categories were chosen from shortlists announced in September, with all four shortlistees each receiving $5000.
Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) chair and program director Elisabeth Storrs said: ‘Both Corporal Hitler’s Pistol and Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief demonstrate the power of the historical fiction genre to illuminate unspoken truths and connect the past with the present. This fosters an understanding of the complicated nature of the world today, and humanises the lives of our predecessors. The prize is a true celebration of historical fiction, and a real opportunity to foster the genre on a grander scale.’
The previous winners of the ARA Historical Novel Prize are Jock Serong for The Burning Island (Text) and Mirandi Riwoe for Stone Sky Gold Mountain (UQP).
For more information, see the HNSA website.
Category: Awards Local news
