Announcing the 2017 Jolley Prize winner

Australian Book Review is delighted to announce that Eliza Robertson has won the 2017 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for her story 'Pheidippides'. Ian Dickson announced Ms Robertson as the overall winner at a ceremony at the Potts Point Bookshop on 10 August 2017. Dominic Amerena placed second for his story 'The Leaching Layer' and Lauren Aimee Curtis came third for her story 'Butter'. Subscribers can read all three shortlisted stories in the August 2017 Fiction issue. We would like to congratulate all three shortlisted entrants and thank all those who entered their stories.

On learning of her win, Eliza Robertson commented:
'I am overjoyed to win this year's ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. My very first publication came from a magazine contest, so I know first hand the opportunities they provide to new writers. Eight years later, this prize coincides with the publishing of my first novel, Demi-Gods, and I am incredibly grateful to the ABR and judges for choosing my story and helping me to connect with Australian readers.' 

The ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize is one of the country’s most prestigious awards for short fiction. This year the Jolley Prize attracted almost 1,200 entries from forty-two different countries. The 2017 Jolley Prize was judged by ABR Deputy Editor Amy Baillieu, and authors Ellen van Neerven and Chris Flynn.

About Eliza Robertson

Eliza Robertson Eliza Robertson (UK/Canada) studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia, where she received the Man Booker Scholarship. In 2013, she won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and was shortlisted for the Journey Prize and CBC Short Story Prize. Her début story collection, Wallflowers, was shortlisted for the East Anglia Book Award and selected as a New York Times editor’s choice. Her first novel, Demi-Gods, comes out with Penguin Canada and Bloomsbury in late 2017. Read her winning story 'Pheidippides'.

John Hawke is a Senior Lecturer, specialising in poetry, at Monash University. His books include Australian Literature and the Symbolist Movement, Poetry and the Trace (co-edited with Ann Vickery), and the volume of poetry Aurelia, which received the 2015 Anne Elder award.

Bill Manhire was New Zealand’s inaugural Poet Laureate. He founded the well-known creative writing programme at Victoria University of Wellington. His most recent books are a poetry collection, Some Things to Place in a Coffin (VUP, 2017), and a collection of short fiction, The Stories of Bill Manhire (VUP, 2015). He has also been writing songs with the jazz musician Norman Meehan.

Jen Webb is Distinguished Professor of Creative Practice at the University of Canberra, and Director of the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research in the Faculty of Arts and Design. Her recent work includes the scholarly volumes Researching Creative Writing (Frontinus Press, 2015) and Art and Human Rights: Contemporary Asian Contexts (with Caroline Turner; Manchester UP, 2016), and the poetry volumes Watching the World (with Paul Hetherington; Blemish Books, 2015), Stolen Stories, Borrowed Lines (Mark Time, 2015) and Sentences from the Archive (Recent Work Press, 2016).

John Hawke, Morag Fraser, Nicholas Wong, and Peter RoseNicholas Wong is the winner of the 2018 Peter Porter Poetry Prize, now worth a total of $8,500. This is Australia’s premier prize for an original poem. Louis Klee, the 2017 winner, made the announcement at a special event at fortyfivedownstairs on Monday, 19 March. Nicholas Wong, who flew from Hong Kong to attend the Porter ceremony, receives $5,000. His winning poem is titled ‘101, Taipei’.

This year’s judges – John Hawke, Bill Manhire, Jen Webb – shortlisted poems by five poets – Eileen Chong, Katherine Healy, LK Holt, Tracey Slaughter, and Nicholas Wong. They were chosen from a record field of almost 1,000 poems. Tracey Slaughter’s poem ‘breather’ was placed second. She receives $2,000 – the other three shortlisted poets $500 each.

The shortlisted poems were published in the March issue of Australian Book Review.

About the shortlisted poets

Nicholas Wong (Winner) is the author of Crevasse (Kaya Press, 2015), winner of the Lambda Literary Award in Gay Poetry. He is also the recipient of the Hong Kong Young Artist Award in Literary Arts in 2017. Wong has contributed writing to the radio composition project ‘One of the Two Stories, Or Both’ at Manchester International Festival 2017, and the final exhibition of Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which will open in May 2018. He is the Vice President of PEN Hong Kong, and teaches at the Education University of Hong Kong.

Tracey Slaughter (Runner up) is a poet and short story writer from Cambridge, New Zealand. Her work has received numerous awards, including the international Bridport Prize (2014), shortlistings for the Manchester Prize in both Poetry (2014) and Fiction (2015), and two Katherine Mansfield Awards. Her latest work, the short story collection deleted scenes for lovers (Victoria University Press) was published to critical acclaim in 2016, and was longlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards. She is currently putting the finishing touches to a poetry collection entitled ‘conventional weapons’. She teaches at the University of Waikato, where she edits the literary journal Mayhem.

Eileen Chong is a Sydney poet who was born in Singapore of Chinese descent. She speaks English, Singlish, Mandarin, and Hokkien, but only writes in English. Chong took a Master of Letters at the University of Sydney and was a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award for a Doctorate in Creative Arts at Western Sydney University. She eventually left her academic studies to write poetry full-time. Her poetry collections are Burning Rice (2012), Peony (2014), and Painting Red Orchids (2016), all from Pitt Street Poetry.

Katherine Healy is a writer living in the Adelaide Hills. She has worked in education, community health promotion, and counselling. Katherine has published creative non-fiction, short fiction, and poetry. She gained her Master of Letters in Creative Writing from Central Queensland University and credits the rural city of Rockhampton for reawakening her poetic impulse. Katherine is a member of Writers’ SA. She has a poetry collection and a novel as a works-in-progress.

LK Holt lives in Melbourne, where she was born in 1982. Her first collection of poems, Man Wolf Man, won the 2009 Kenneth Slessor Prize in the NSW Premier’s Awards. Patience, Mutiny shared the 2011 Grace Leven Prize for Poetry. Her most recent collection Keeps was longlisted for the 2015 Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. Her forthcoming collection, System Garden, will be published by Vagabond Press later this year.

Click here for more information about past winners and to read their poems.

We look forward to offering the Porter Prize again in 2019.

We gratefully acknowledge the long-standing support of Ms Morag Fraser AM, and the support of ABR Patrons. The print is donated by Mr Ivan Durrant in honour of Georges Mora.

Munich to Berlin: Art, music, & literature

Australian Book Review in Germany

June 2–15, 2018

ABR’s third international cultural tour, in partnership with Academy Travel, took us to Germany. Once again the tour was led by Peter Rose, ABR Editor and CEO, and Christopher Menz, ABR Development Consultant and former gallery director. The two week tour commenced in Munich at the beginning of June and then headed north, visiting Bayreuth, Weimar, Dresden, and Berlin where it concluded. It was a great success with a marvellous itinerary that included walking tours and visits to art galleries, museums, and libraries, as well as taking in opera and musical performances, capped off by major literary event at the Australian Embassy in Berlin. The highlights were many but included visits to the Glyptothek, Alte, and Neue Pinakotheks in Munich; Goethe’s House and the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar; and the magnificent collections and buildings of Dresden (including the rebuilt Frauenkirche) and Berlin. Among some great opera performances, we were fortunate hear Simone Young twice, first conducting Janáček’s From the House of the Dead in Munich and then a superlative Tosca, staring Elena Stikhina, in Berlin. Other musical highlights in Berlin were Offenbach’s Bluebeard at the Komische Opera and a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic in Simon Rattle’s final season, which included the world première of Notturno inquieto by Brett Dean. During the final week, the Australian Embassy in Berlin hosted a special literary event ‘Australians in Germany – A Cultural Exchange’ at which writer Anna Funder and artist Brook Andrew were in conversation with Peter Rose. Around one hundred guests enjoyed the stimulating exchange and the Embassy’s hospitality.

Ian Dickson and the official Australian Book Review bus.

The tour group outside the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

Peter Rose, Brook Andrew, ambassador Lynette Wood, and Anna Funder at the Berlin embassy.

A walking tour through Munich.

Peter McLennan sporting exclusive ABR merchandise in Dresden.

A final shot of the group.