The shortlist for the 2007 Miles Franklin Literary Award, which this year celebrates its 50th year, was announced today. The shortlisted titles are:
- Careless (Deborah Robertson, Picador)
- Carpentaria (Alexis Wright, Giramondo)
- Dreams of Speaking (Gail Jones, Vintage)
- Theft: A Love Story (Peter Carey, Knopf)
The judges pronounced Carey in ‘impressive form’ and his novel ‘splendid and fantastical fiction’; Jones’ Dreams of Speaking was described as ‘a poignant love story, and a portent of hope’; Robertson’s novel was praised as ‘fine, subtle writing with a tension running throughout the story’; while Wright’s Carpentaria, ‘a powerful novel about the Gulf country’, was described as ‘a big novel in every sense.’ ‘Richly imagined and stylistically ambitious, it takes all kinds of risks and pulls them off with the confidence and assurance of a novelist who has now discovered her true power.’
This year’s winner, who will receive $42, 000, will be announced at a gala dinner at the State Library of New South Wales on 21 June.
More Detail http://awards.beaumarisbooks.com.au/4981/