Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Prizes 2017 winners announced

The winners of the 2017 Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Prizes have been announced.

The winning titles in each category are:

Tasmania Book Prize for best book with Tasmanian content in any genre ($25,000)

• Into the Heart of Tasmania: A Search for Human Antiquity (Rebe Taylor, MUP)

Margaret Scott Prize for best book by a Tasmanian writer ($5000)

• The Museum of Modern Love (Heather Rose, A&U)

University of Tasmania Prize for best unpublished manuscript by an emerging Tasmanian writer ($5000)

•  ‘Brodsky Dies’ by Adam Ouston

Tasmanian Young Writer’s Fellowship ($5000)

• Erin Hortle.

The winners, chosen from shortlists released in September, were announced at an event at Government House in Hobart on 27 November.

Judges described Into the Heart of Tasmania, an exploration of English gentleman Ernest Westlake and history of Aboriginal Tasmania, as ‘a masterful book that pierces the skin of the past, but also has a weather eye fixed firmly on the future’.

Also announced on the night were the winners of the people’s choice awards, which attracted almost 1000 votes. James Boyce’s Losing Streak (Black Inc.) won the people’s choice Tasmania Book Prize, Rose’s The Museum of Modern Love won the Margaret Scott Prize and Ben Walter’s ‘A Guide to Bushwalking in Tasmania’ won the best unpublished manuscript.

The biennial Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Prizes, previously known as the Tasmanian Literary Prizes, aim to ‘celebrate the richness of the Tasmanian literary sector and acknowledge the particular influence that Tasmania has on written work’.

For more information about the awards and to the read the judges’ comments, visit the website here.

Category: Awards Local news