2018 Territory Read winners
The NT Writers’ Centre was thrilled to announce winning books in three categories for the 2018 Territory Read Awards at the ceremony in Darwin last night.
Since 2009, the Territory Read awards have created an opportunity to celebrate excellence amongst published authors from the NT. They also draw national attention to NT writers and in the past have served to raise the profile of remote, regional and Indigenous authors.
For any media enquiries, please contact Sally Bothroyd, NT Writers Centre
Tel: 08 8941 2651 Email: executive@ntwriters.com.au
This year’s winners are:
Chief Minister’s Book of the Year
For a published book across all genres by an NT author.
Mary Anne Butler | Broken
Mary Anne Butler’s extraordinary play script for Broken works as well on the page as it does for performance. Through an incredible blend of realism and surrealism, Broken’s wonderfully clever writing captures the distance and isolation of NT life. Her interwoven tales carry a highly tense and dramatic story that is both quintessentially Territorian and universal. If you’ve never thought about reading a play script before, this is definitely the place to start.
Best Non-Fiction
For a prose work other than a work of fiction. Includes biography, auto-biography, memoir, creative non-fiction, history, philosophy and literary criticism by an NT author.
Frank Byrne, with Frances Coughlan and Gerard Waterford | Living in Hope
Living in Hope, Frank Byrne’s unforgettable childhood memoir, reveals the life of a boy firstly living with his family in the Kimberly region of Western Australian and then, from the age of six, his life as a member of the Stolen Generations. The voice is vivid, authentic and full of life – a heartbreaking story that perfectly balances light and shade. Frank Byrne is a remarkable storyteller: intelligent, generous and clear-eyed in the face of obstacles and systemic cruelty. There are dozens of individual stories here, all told in Byrne’s luminous voice, and each one is an irreplaceable slice of Australian history.
Best Children’s or Young Adult
For a published book in either genre by an NT author.
Johanna Bell and Dion Beasley | Go Home, Cheeky Animals
The latest offering from the successful partnership between Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell, Go Home, Cheeky Animals is a beautifully produced children’s book with a wonderful sense of humour that provides a rarely-seen insight into life in a remote Northern Territory community.
Thanks to everyone who was involved in the search for this year’s winners. We look forward to presenting the awards again in 2020.
Thanks also to our supporters, The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the Northern Territory Government, and the Australia Council for the Arts.
