It’s true, I have the inside information, I know who the winners are! They were announced last night at a dinner held amongst ‘the stacks’ in the State Library. And so…
FICTION
The Travel Writer Simone Lazaroo
POETRY
All the Time in the World Dennis Haskell
WRITING for YOUNG ADULTS
Destroying Avalon Kate McCaffrey
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
The Arrival Shaun Tan
SCRIPT
Sardines Hellie Turner
NON-FICTION
Rob Riley Quentin Beresford
Arthur Tang Peter Edwards
WEST AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
The Workshops Bobbie Oliver & Patrick Bertola
PREMIER’S PRIZE WINNER
The Arrival Shaun Tan
I don’t think it came as a great surprise to anyone that Shaun’s book would win the Premier’s Prize- and deservedly so. It is an outstanding success. Shaun was unable to make the presentation but his very proud parents accepted the award- which I imagine must have been a huge thrill!
I honestly had not prepared a speech- as anyone at the presentation will attest to! I hadn’t even mentally prepared one- so I gave a rather perfunctory and generalised thank you. After the shock wore off I realised I’d failed to acknowledge the other short listed authors; Julia Lawrinson, Katy Watson-Kell and Diana Chase- the only remedy was to personally acknowledge them, after the presentation ended! I didn’t really thank the judges at all- and so I’d now like to take this opportunity to send a big thank you to them- Ms Chloe Mauger, Professor Andrew Taylor, Professor Ed Jagger and Ms Lucille Fisher. As Simone Lazaroo said everyone else was mentioned in the book’s acknowledge pages- and in Destroying Avalon there is a page and a half of acknowledgements (you all know who you are)!!
It was a fantastic honour and I am thrilled to have my book acknowledged in such a way! The lesson of the night was, of course,what happens when you spend all your time thinking about clothes and none of it on what you should say if you should win!!!
Kate McCaffrey 