Bashford wins 2023 Nib Literary Award

Alison Bashford has won the Waverley Council’s 2023 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, worth $40,000, for her book An Intimate History of Evolution: The story of the Huxley family (Allen Lane).

Chosen from a shortlist of six books, An Intimate History of Evolution tells the story of the Huxleys: the Victorian natural historian T H Huxley, and his grandson, the scientist, conservationist, and zoologist Julian Huxley. Between them, the Huxleys communicated to the world the story of the theory of evolution by natural selection.

This year’s judging panel included poet Jamie Grant, author Katerina Cosgrove and publisher Julia Carlomagno.

The Age of Seeds by Fiona McMillan-Webster (Thames & Hudson) won the $4000 Nib People’s Choice Prize. The Age of Seeds examines the crucial role seeds play in our everyday lives and what that might mean for our planet.

Each author shortlisted also receives $1500. Presented by Sydney’s Waverley Council, the Nib recognises the role research plays in fiction and nonfiction. The winner of last year’s prize was Delia Falconer’s Signs and Wonders: Dispatches from a time of beauty and loss (Scribner).

More information about the award is on the Waverley Council website.

Category: Awards Local news