2016 Barbara Jefferis Award Announced

The Australian Society of Authors is most pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2016 Barbara Jefferis Award.

The Barbara Jefferis Award is offered for “the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society”. The Award is in its seventh year, and previous winners include Helen Garner, Rhyll McMaster, Kristina Olsson, GL Osborne, Anna Funder, Margo Lanagan and Fiona McFarlane.

With prizes totalling $55,000, this important award represents one of the highest prize pools in the Australian literary landscape. The Award is open to male authors, but to date only female authors have won – a trend set to continue in 2016, since all shortlisted books are by female authors.

The Award judges in 2016 are Marele Day, Garry Disher and Anne Maria Nicholson.

Shortlist

Sarah Hopkins: This Picture of You (Allen & Unwin)

Gail Jones: A Guide to Berlin (Vintage)

Alice Pung: Laurinda (Black Inc.)

Claire Zorn: The Protected (University of Queensland Press)

Peggy Frew: Hope Farm (Scribe Publications)

Charlotte Wood: The Natural Way of Things (Allen & Unwin)

 

The following novels were highly commended:

Vikki Wakefield: In Between Days (Text Publishing)

Mireille Juchau: The World Without Us (Bloomsbury)

 

The winner will be announced in Sydney in October 2016. The Award is made available from the Barbara Jefferis Literary Fund, established by a bequest from Barbara’s husband, much-loved film critic John Hinde. Barbara Jefferis was a novelist, a founding member of the Australian Society of Authors and its first woman President.

 

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