Congratulations to the authors shortlisted for this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award!
Here are the five shortlisted books:
- An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire
- The Last Days of Ava Langdon by Mark O’Flynn
- Their Brilliant Careers by Ryan O’Neill
- Waiting by Philip Salom
- Extinctions by Josephine Wilson
Speaking on behalf of the judging panel, State Library of NSW Mitchell Librarian, Richard Neville, said: “None of these novels draws on familiar tropes of Australian literature yet each brings a distinctive pitch of truth and insight into the Australian experience. (They) explore the restorative power of love, the pernicious influence of the past on the present, the tragedy of the present avoiding the past, the challenge of unconventional identities, the interweaving of lives across communities, the devastation of grief, and the war zone that is the media, masculinity and a small country town.”
Neville is joined on the judging panel by The Australian journalist and columnist Murray Waldren, Sydney-based bookseller Lindy Jones, book critic Dr Melinda Harvey and Emeritus Professor Susan Sheridan.
The winner of the 2017 Miles Franklin Literary Award will be revealed in September. Find out more abut the Award, and this year’s shortlisted books, here.
