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Omar Musa in the running for Miles Franklin award

omar musa
Omar Musa… in the running for a Miles Franklin award this year.
QUEANBEYAN author and poet Omar Musa has been announced as one of the 10 finalists in this year’s the Miles Franklin Literary Award “longlist”.

 

He has been nominated for his recent novel “Here Comes the Dogs”.

The 10 authors in competition for the $60,000 prize this year include three debut novelists –Musa, Suzanne McCourt,  and Christine Piper.

The Miles Franklin Literary Award is regarded as Australia’s most prestigious literature prize and was established through the will of “My Brilliant Career” author, Miles Franklin. First awarded in 1957, the prize is awarded each year to the novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases.

“From a contemporary rap symphony and a 1950s polio clinic love affair, to the suburban father too good to be true and the spiritual journey of an Antarctic supply ship, this year’s Miles Franklin longlist showcases the extraordinary vitality and range of recent Australian fiction,” said State Library of NSW Mitchell librarian, Richard Neville, on behalf of the judging panel.

“Interestingly, a number of the novels are written from the child’s perspective, with unravelling families, or families in tension, driving the narratives.”

Mr Neville is joined on the judging panel by journalist Murray Waldren, bookseller Lindy Jones, Queensland Writers’ Centre founding chair Craig Munro and Emeritus Professor Susan Sheridan.

The Miles Franklin 2015 shortlist will be announced at the Australian Booksellers Association Conference at the State Library of Victoria on May 18. The winner will be revealed on June 23.

The 2015 Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist is:

Author

Novel

Publisher

Elizabeth Harrower In Certain Circles Text Publishing
Sonya Hartnett  Golden Boys Penguin Books Australia
Sofie Laguna  The Eye of the Sheep Allen & Unwin
Joan London  The Golden Age Random House Australia
Suzanne McCourt  The Lost Child Text Publishing
Omar Musa  Here Come the Dogs Penguin Books Australia
Favel Parrett  When The Night Comes Hachette Australia
Christine Piper  After Darkness Allen & Unwin
Craig Sherborne  Tree Palace Text Publishing
Inga  Simpson  Nest Hachette Australia

 

 

 

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