Miles Franklin Awards

"The Miles Franklin Literary Award, our first and most prestigious literary award, was established in 1954 with a bequest from the author Miles Franklin. She was concerned to see Australian literature flourish and knew first hand the struggles most authors have in Australia.

The Miles Franklin Literary Award celebrates Australian character and creativity and nurtures the continuing life of literature about Australia. It is awarded for the novel of the year which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases.

Since it was first awarded in 1957 to Patrick White for his novel Voss, the award has encouraged authors and delivered an immense contribution to the richness of Australian cultural life."

This is where I find some of my best reads in Australian literature. The full list of past winners is listed below. The official dates for the 2010 awards are:

Shortlist announcement 15 April 2010
Winner’s announcement 17 June 2010

March 17, 2010: The Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist:

Lovesong     Alex Miller     
The Bath Fugues   Brian Castro     
Jasper Jones   Craig Silvey     
Sons of the Rumour   David Foster     
The Book of Emmett   Deborah Forster     
Siddon Rock   Glenda Guest    
Boy on a Wire  Jon Doust     
Figurehead   Patrick Allington     
Patrick and Olivier in America   Peter Carey     
Truth  Peter Temple    
Butterfly    Sonya Hartnett     
The People's Train  Tom Keneally

I will be reading the Sonya Hartnett and Thomas Keneally books first.
Have you read any yet? Which do you expect to and which are you rooting for?

Nominees I have read:

2009 Winner - Breath***** by Tim Winton
2007 Winner - Carpentaria**** by Alexis Wright
2002 Winner - Dirt Music***** by Tim Winton
1999 Winner - Eucalyptus***** by Murray Bail
1992 Winner - Cloudstreet***** by Tim Winton -
1986 Winner - The Well***** by Elizabeth Jolley
1978 Winner - Tirra Lirra by the River**** by Jessica Anderson

2009 Shortlist - The Pages***+ by Murray Bail
2009 Shortlist - Wanting***** by Richard Flanagan
2009 Longlist - Addition**** by Toni Jordan
2008 Shortlist - Sorry***** by Gail Jones
2008 Shortlist - Orpheus Lost***** by Janette Turner Hospital
2007 Shortlist - Theft: A Love Story**** by Peter Carey
2006 Shortlist - The Secret River***** by Kate Grenville
2005 Shortlist - Salt Rain**** by Sarah Armstrong
2003 Shortlist - Of a Boy***** by Sonia Hartnett (What the Birds See in US)

On my shelves Tbr

1957 Winner - Voss by Patrick White
1961 Winner - Riders in the Chariot by Patrick White
1967 Winner - Bring Larks and Heroes by Thomas Keneally
1991 Winner - The Great World by David Malouf 
2005 Winner - Prochownik's Dream by Alex Miller
2007 Shortlist - Careless by Deborah Robertson
2006 Longlist - Prochownik's Dream by  Alex Miller
2006 Shortlist - Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living by Carrie Tiffany
2005 Shortlist - Sixty Lights by Gail Jones
2005 Shortlist - The Submerged Cathedral by Charlotte Wood
2002 Shortlist - Gould's Book of Fish  by Richard Flanagan
1994 Shortlist - Remembering Babylon by David Malouf



Unowned but wanted

1983 Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott
1984 Shallows by Tim Winton

_____________________________ 

Past Winners

1957 Patrick White, Voss
1958 Randolph Stow, To the Islands
1959 Vance Palmer (posthumously), The Big Fellow
1960 Elizabeth O'Conner, The Irishman
1961 Patrick White, Riders in the Chariot
1962 Thea Astley, The Well Dressed Explorer
George Turner, The Cupboard under the Stairs
1963 Sumner Lock Elliott, Careful, He Might Hear You
1964 George Johnston, My Brother Jack
1965 Thea Astley, The Slow Natives
1966 Peter Mathers, Trap
1967 Thomas Keneally, Bring Larks & Heroes
1968 Thomas Keneally, Three Cheers for the Paraclete
1969 George Johnston, Clean Straw for Nothing
1970 Dal Stivens, A Horse of Air
1971 David Ireland, The Unknown Industrial Prisoner
1972 Th ea Astley, The Acolyte
1973 no award
1974 Ronald McKie, The Mango Tree
1975 Xavier Herbert, Poor Fellow My Country
1976 David Ireland, Th e Glass Canoe
1977 Ruth Park, Swords and Crowns and Rings
1978 Jessica Anderson, Tirra Lirra by the River
1979 David Ireland, A Woman of the Future
1980 Jessica Anderson, The Impersonators
1981 Peter Carey, Bliss
1982 Rodney Hall, Just Relations
1983 no award
1984 Tim Winton, Shallows
1985 Christopher Koch, The Doubleman
1986 Elizabeth Jolley, The Well
1987 Glenda Adams, Dancing on Coral
1988 The year of the Award was changed to the year granted
rather than the year published thus no 1988
1989 Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
1990 Tom Flood, Oceana Fine
1991 David Malouf, The Great World
1992 Tim Winton, Cloudstreet
1993 Alex Miller, The Ancestor Game
1994 Rodney Hall, The Grisly Wife
1995 Helen Demidenko (Darville), The Hand That Signed the Paper
1996 Christopher Koch, Highways to a War
1997 David Foster, The Glade Within Th e Grove
1998 Peter Carey, Jack Maggs
1999 Murray Bail, Eucalyptus
2000 Thea Astley, Drylands
Kim Scott, Benang
2001 Frank Moorhouse, Dark Palace
2002 Tim Winton, Dirt Music
2003 Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country
2004 Shirley Hazzard, The Great Fire
2005 Andrew McGahan, The White Earth
2006 Roger McDonald, The Ballad of Desmond Kale
2007 Alexis Wright, Carpentaria
2008 Steven Carroll, The Time We Have Taken
2009 Tim Winton, Breath

Please leave links to any you've reviewed.