Perpetual, the trustee of Australia’s most prestigious literary awards, have announced the ten talented authors who have been included in the 2019 longlist for the Miles Franklin Award.
The Miles Franklin Literary Award was established by prolific author and feminist Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, now best known for her first novel My Brilliant Career. First presented in 1957, the Award celebrates novels of the highest literary merit that tell stories about Australian life. Winning authors receive a prize of $60,000. The award remains Australia’s most prestigious and valued literary award.
The 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist is:
Michael Mohammed Ahmad – The Lebs
Hachette Australia
Robbie Arnott – Flames
Text Publishing
Trent Dalton – Boy Swallows Universe
HarperCollins Publishers
Gregory Day – A Sand Archive
Picador Australia
Lexi Freiman – Inappropriation
Allen & Unwin
Rodney Hall – A Stolen Season
Picador Australia
Gail Jones – The Death of Noah Glass
Text Publishing
Melissa Lucashenko – Too Much Lip
The University of Queensland Press
Jennifer Mills – Dyschronia
Picador Australia
Tracy Sorensen – The Lucky Galah
Picador Australia
“The 2019 Miles Franklin longlist yet again highlights a mixture of new and established writers,” said Richard Neville, State Library of NSW Mitchell Librarian. “It showcases ten of the most vibrant voices of Australian fiction speaking to us of lives facing, or having endured, some version of extremity.”
“Angry, funny, contemplative and urgent, these voices – which include a galah – explore personal, historical and ecological loss, cultural inheritances and disenfranchisement, and the fraught bonds of friendships, families and communities.”
The judging panel comprises, Richard Neville – Mitchell Librarian of the State Library of NSW and Chair, Murray Waldren – The Australian journalist and author, book critic Dr Melinda Harvey, Sydney-based bookseller, Lindy Jones and author and literary critic Dr Bernadette Brennan.
The shortlisted finalists will be revealed on Tuesday 2 July at the State Library of New South Wales. The winner announcement will be made on Tuesday 30 July 2019 in Sydney. For more information, visit: www.milesfranklin.com.au for details.
Image: The 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist books (supplied)