Tonight the Miles Franklin Prize will be announced in Sydney though the Sydney Morning Herald reports the award will move to Melbourne next year.
The award’s home has been Sydney’s Mitchell Library since the first gong was awarded to Patrick White’s Voss in 1957, but this year the award has attracted controversy as Alex Miller used his shortlisting for the award as a chance to slam Rudd’s arts policy
This year the shortlist shrugged off literary heavy hitters including Peter Carey and Thomas Keneally, in favour of their first genre novel, Peter Temple’s crime novel Truth. While the SMH backs Temple, he’s up against tough competition from Craig Silvey who has already scored the NSW Premier’s Prize not to mention a nomination for Cleo’s Bachelor of the Year.
Silvey will be the only nominee unable to attend tonight as he’s overseas. This year the winner hasn’t been tipped off beforehand after last year’s prize was collected via pre-recorded video by Tim Winton, who used the occasion to shame the government out of reforming Australia’s publishing rights. Winton simplified the issue for authors as “You work for three years and get paid for one.” Here’s hoping for a similarly controversial acceptance speech tonight.