2011 WA Premier’s Book Awards shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2011 Western Australian Premier’s Books Awards have been announced.

The shortlisted titles in each of the categories are:

Nonfiction ($15,000)

Fiction ($15,000)

• All that I Am (Anna Funder, Penguin)
• Caleb’s Crossing (Geraldine Brooks, Fourth Estate)
• Five Bells (Gail Jones, Vintage)
• Foal’s Bread (Gillian Mears, A&U)
• The Cook (Wayne McCauley, Text)
• The Street Sweeper (Elliot Perlman, Vintage)

Children’s ($15,000)

• A Bus Called Heaven (Bob Graham, Walker Books)
• Archie’s Letter (Martin Flanagan, illus by Ainsley Walters, One Day Hill Publishing)
• Brotherband 1: The Outcasts (John Flanagan, Random House)
• On Orchard Road (Elisbeth Edgar, Walker Books)
• Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck (Michelle Gillespie, illus by Sonia Martinez, Fremantle Press)
• The Little Refugee (Anh & Suzanne Do, illus by Bruce Whatley, A&U)

Poetry ($10,000)

• Armour (John Kinsella, Picador)
• Interferon Psalms (Luke Davies, A&U)
• Lines for Birds (Barry Hill & John Wolseley, UWA Publishing)
• Surface to Air (Jaya Savige, UQP)
• The Argument (Tracy Ryan, Fremantle Press)
• The Taste of River Water (Cate Kennedy, Scribe)

Young Adult ($10,000)

• Crow Country (Kate Constable, A&U)
• Horses for the King (L S Lawrence, Omnibus Books)
• The Coming of the Whirlpool (Andrew McGahan, A&U)
• The Dead I Know (Scot Gardner, A&U)
• Only Ever Always (Penni Russon, A&U)
• Whisper (Chrissie Keighery, Hardier Grant Egmont)

State Library of Western Australia WA History Award ($10,000)

• A Garden on the Margaret: the Path to Old Bridge House (Gillian Lilleyman)
• Fremantle Port (John Dowson, The Chart and Map Shop)
• Government House and Western Australian Society 1829-2012 (Jeremy Martens, UWA publishing)
• Justice: A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Fiona Skyring, UWA Publishing)
• Powering Perth: A History of the East Perth Power Station (Lenore Layman, Black Swan Press)
• Triumphs and Tragedies: Oombulgurri an Australian Aboriginal Community (Neville Green, Hesperian Press)

Scripts ($10,000)

• Anytown (Hellie Turner, Jeddah Productions)
• Burning Man (Jonathan Teplitzky, Archer Street Productions)
• Cloudstreet (Tim Winton & Ellen Fontana, Penguin)
• Mad Bastards (Brendan Fletcher& Dean Daley-Jones Bush, Turkey Films)
• The Good, the Bad and the Baba (Philip Dalkin, Media World Pictures)
• Waltzing the Wilarra (David Milroy, Currency Press)

Digital narrative ($5000)

• Bear and Bairn (Caralyn Lagrange)
• Machine Man (Max Barry)
• Nullabor Song Cycle (David Reiter)
• Puri: Search for Paradise (Robin Clark & Amanda Clark)
• Sparky the Shark – A Frighteningly Funny Adventure (Mark Newell & Paula Mantle).

The judges also highly commended the following nonfiction titles:

• Breaking the Sheep’s Back (Charles Massy, UQP)
• Boat People (Carina Hoang, Carina Hoang Communications)
• Kinglake-350 (Adrian Hayland, Text)
• The Protectors: A Journey Through Whitefella Past (Stephen Gray, A&U).
   

The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on 20 September.
 
The titles shortlisted in the fiction category will also be eligible for the People’s Choice Award, which is worth $5000. The Premier’s Prize, worth $25,000, will be presented to the best overall entry from all category winners.

As previously reported by Bookseller+Publisher, Kim Scott was awarded the 2010 Premier’s Prize last year for That Deadman Dance (Picador). Scott’s book also won the fiction category.

More information about the WA Premier’s Book Awards can be found online here.

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