Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Image. Advertisement:

Middle-grade historical epic wins Prime Minister’s Literary Award

Thursday, 15 February 2018   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

Wendy Orr’s Minoan-era historical epic, Dragonfly Song (Allen & Unwin), was the joint winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award (PMLA) for children’s fiction, and has also been shortlisted for the biennial Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature. The other winner in the category was Bob Graham’s picture book Home in the Rain (Walker Books), which focuses on a ‘seemingly ordinary moment of family life’ that is set against a backdrop of rain.

Cath Crowley’s Words in Deep Blue (Pan Macmillan) also won at the PMLAs in the young adult (YA) fiction category. Crowley’s 2017 YA collaboration with Fiona Wood and Simmone Howell, Take Three Girls, also received a shortlisting from the Indie Book Awards (see below) and is one of last month’s bestselling YA titles (see bestsellers).

Living on Hope Street (Demet Divaroren, Allen & Unwin) won the YA category of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, and Alison Evans’ YA novel Ida (Echo) was voted the People’s Choice Award-winner. Divaroren was the co-editor of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA)-shortlisted Coming of Age: Growing up Muslim in Australia (Allen & Unwin). Being shortlisted for a CBCA award is akin to actually winning any other kind of children’s book award in Australia, so it’s a good list to pay attention to. The CBCA Notables announcement—which acts as the longlist—will be revealed at the end of this month.

Two other lists worth noting are the YA and children’s shortlists for the Indie Book Awards. These awards are decided by members of the Leading Edge Books buying group, which is to say, most of Australia’s independent booksellers. The shortlisted titles are:

YA

Children’s

 

Category: Think Junior awards