The Prime Minister’s Literary Award winners include a collective Yolŋu novel – and a murder trial
The winners of this year’s Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced. Together, they question, subvert and explore Australian identity.
The Prime Minister's Literary Awards saw a diverse range of winners this year, addressing themes of Australian identity, colonialism, and social justice. Two Yolŋu collaborators, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Djawa Burarrwanga, and Djawundil Maymuru, won the fiction prize for their collective novel A Piece of Red Cloth. The novel, which weaves together oral history, novelistic technique, and cultural knowledge, tells the story of a Yolŋu elder striving to protect her granddaughter from Makassan trepang fishermen.
The story sheds light on a lesser-known chapter of pre-colonial Australian history, revealing the brutal exploitation of indigenous people by European merchants who adopted similar tactics. The judges praised the novel as "a profound work of remembrance, fusing oral history, novelistic technique and deep cultural knowledge."
In the nonfiction category, Kate Wild won the award for her gripping exposé, The Red House. The book delves into the ongoing race inequities in contemporary Australia, examining the tragic killing of Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 and the subsequent murder trial of Constable Zachary Rolfe. Wild's work has previously won the Age Non-fiction Book of the Year award, and she was recognized for her investigative journalism that highlights the systemic issues plaguing Australian society.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
