The Miles Franklin Literary Prize has whittled its 2014 longlist of 11 down to a shortlist of six, including a debut author and two previous award winners.
Vying for the top prize of $60,000 are Richard Flanagan (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), Fiona McFarlane (The Night Guest), Cory Taylor (My Beautiful Enemy), Tim Winton (Eyrie), Alexis Wright (The Swan Book) and Evie Wyld (All the Birds, Singing).
Winton and Wright are both previous winners – in fact, Winton has won it four times – while McFarlane’s The Night Guest is her first novel.
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One of Australia’s most prestigious literary prizes, the Miles Franklin is awarded to a work which presents “Australian life in any of its phases”. The winner will be announced on June 26.
Meanwhile, uncertainty continues to surround the 2014 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, with entries closing in February but the Government yet to announce who the judges will be. The awards were introduced under former prime minister Kevin Rudd and are worth $600,000 across six categories.
Some in the industry are concerned that the current Government isn’t committed to the future of the awards, with Fairfax reporting that Prime Minister Tony Abbott may not get the warmest welcome when he speaks at the Australian Book Industry Awards dinner in Sydney next Friday.