Miles Franklin Literary Award 2017 shortlist announced

The shortlist for the 2017 Miles Franklin Literary Award was announced at the Australian Booksellers Association’s gala dinner in Melbourne on 18 June.

The shortlisted titles are:

• An Isolated Incident (Emily Maguire, Picador)
• The Last Days of Ava Langdon (Mark O’Flynn, UQP)
• Their Brilliant Careers (Ryan O’Neill, Black Inc.)
• Waiting (Philip Salom, Puncher & Wattmann)
• Extinctions (Josephine Wilson, UWA Publishing).

Speaking on behalf of the judging panel, State Library of NSW Mitchell librarian Richard Neville said ‘like all great literature’, the five shortlisted novels ‘explore the restorative power of love, the pernicious influence of the past upon the present, the tragedy of the present avoiding the past, the challenge of unconventional identities, the interweaving of lives across communities, the devastation of grief, and the warzone that is the media, masculinity and a small country town’.

The judging panel also included Murray Waldren, Lindy Jones, Melinda Harvey and Susan Sheridan.

Each of the shortlisted authors receive $5000. As previously reported by Books+Publishing, a longlist of nine books was revealed in May, which was chosen from 64 entries. The winning author, who will receive $60,000, will be announced on 7 September.

Picture credit: Miles Franklin Literary Award / Peter Marko

Category: Local news