Wright wins 2024 Voss Literary Prize

Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy (Giramondo) was announced as the winner of the 2024 Voss Literary Prize by the Australian University Heads of English (AUHE).

The prize judges said: ‘Praiseworthy is a work for the ages, a capacious Aboriginal epic based in the Queensland Gulf Country … In asserting the healing possibilities of story, Wright eviscerates its opposite, that particular Canberra narrative, amplified by social media, about the abuse of alcohol and children in Aboriginal communities … Wright’s critique of white denial of Aboriginal rights is both stringent and plangent.’

‘Much has been written about Praiseworthy and the awards it has garnered for its poetic and expansive language, its exceptional mastery of craft and astonishing emotional range. Wright has gifted her readers a total life-world, a fantastical imaginary that challenges western knowledge, logic and expectations, enriches Australian literature, and gives sovereignty to Indigenous voices,’ added the judges.

Judges selected the winner from a shortlist of five announced in November.

Established in 2014, the Voss Literary Prize is dedicated to the memory of historian Vivian Robert Le Vaux Voss and managed by the AUHE, the peak body for the study of English at Australian universities.

The winner of the 2023 prize was Limberlost (Robbie Arnott, Text).

Category: Awards Local news