Hidden Author
Isobelle Carmody (1958- ) is an Australian writer of science fiction, fantasy, children's literature, and young adult literature. She began the first book in the Obernewtyn Chronicles when she was fourteen and continued to work on the series while completing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in literature and philosophy. While she is perhaps best known for the Obernewtyn Chronicles (now comprising ... (read more)
Thomas Keneally (1935–) is an award-winning Australian novelist and historian.. Keneally won the 1982 Booker Prize for Schindler’s Ark, which would go on to win Oscars as the 1993 film Schindler’s List. Keneally has won the Miles Franklin Award twice for Bring Larks and Heroes in 1967 and Three Cheers for the Paraclete in 1968. Keneally wrote The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith in 1972.
Thomas K ... (read more)
Porter Prize
On 12 May a large audience gathered at the excellent Collected Works bookshop in Melbourne for the announcement of the 2015 Peter Porter Poetry Prize, always a highlight on the ABR calendar (see photographs of the event here). First we heard from several admirers of Peter Porter’s work who read individual poems by him. After the poets or their representatives had introduced and rea ... (read more)
What drew you to writing?
Like most, reading. I spent a lot of time outdoors as a child, playing sport and wandering through bushland. Mum started working in libraries, and during school holidays my brother and I had to sit down quietly in a corner at her work. I read fantasy, classics like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. In my teen years I also consumed a lot of music and wan ... (read more)
Kate Grenville (1950–) is an award-winning Australia author of fiction, memoir and non-fiction, Kate’s first publication was the short story collection Bearded Ladies (1984). She has gone on to publish a total of thirteen books in the last thirty years including her most recent one, One Life (2015). Several of Kate’s works have been adapted for stage and screen, including Lilian’s Story (1 ... (read more)
Why do you write?
Writing interests me as nothing else does. It keeps me more or less sane until lunchtime.
Are you a vivid dreamer?
My dreams desert me at first light, and I struggle to recall them. A trivial event during the day may bring them back. They are obedient to rules I don’t understand.
Where are you happiest?
Happiness, as inspiration, refuses to be coerced and is always a we ... (read more)
Alex Miller (1936–), is an Australian novelist. His first novel, Watching the Climbers on the Mountain was published in 1988. Since then, he has won many awards for his fiction. He has twice won the Miles Franklin award, for The Ancestor Game (1993) and for Journey to the Stone Country (2003), and also twice won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, for Co ... (read more)
Calibre Prize
Sophie Cunningham is the winner of this year’s Calibre Prize for an Outstanding Essay. The judges – Delia Falconer and Peter Rose – chose Ms Cunningham’s essay from a field of almost 100 essays. She receives $5,000 from ABR.
Our winner is well known to Australian readers as a former publisher, Editor of Meanjin, and Chair of the Literature Board. She has published two novel ... (read more)
Tim Flannery is an internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer, and conservationist. He has written over a dozen books, including Here On Earth; the award winning bestsellers The Future Eaters, The Eternal Frontier and The Weather Makers, and accounts of his travels in Papua New Guinea and Australia, Throwim Way Leg, Country and Among the Islands. In 2007 he was named Australian of the Year and ... (read more)