YESTERDAY (December 16) Frank Bongiorno’s book titled, “The Eighties” was chosen as the winner of the 2016 ACT Book of the Year. 

The Minister for the Arts and Community Events, Gordon Ramsay says that the Award recognises quality contemporary literary works by ACT based writers.

The award ceremony was held last night at the ACT Writers Centre, where Bongiorno was awarded $10,000, with a prize of $2000 for the highly commended author and $1000 for shortlisted authors.

“In selecting the winning entry, the judging panel unanimously agreed that The Eighties encapsulates a decade through a readable blend of scholarship and memory,” says Ramsay.

“The Anchoress” by Robyn Cadwallader received “highly commended” in the Book of the Year category and was also awarded the People’s Choice Award for 2016. “The Anchoress” explores issues of gender, power and religion and the panel says the book is an emotionally-engaging and assured debut novel.

“There were 39 entries across fiction, non-fiction and poetry for this year’s awards which is a fantastic example of the creativity that exists in our community,” says Ramsay.

The authors who were shortlisted where Merlinda Bobis for “Locust Girl”, Subhash Jaireth for “Moments”, and Ann McGrath for “Illicit Love”.

Arts editor HELEN MUSA reports: The announcement by the Arts Minister came during the ACT Writers’ Centre Christmas party held in the Canberra Contemporary Arts Space.

MC David Vernon, who, it turned out, was also a judge for one of the awards, told the huge crowd of poets, screenwriters, publishers, editors and other communicators attending that writing created “hope and inspiration” and welcomed the organisation’s new CEO Sarah Mason.

First up were the Writers Centre’s own ACT Writing and Publishing Awards. Vernon announced the winners in each section, inviting them to the podium while he read out the critics’ comments.

The winning work in the fiction section was “Cranky Ladies of History”, edited by Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely, while Jennifer Horsfield one in the non-fiction category for “Building a City: CS Daley and the Story of Canberra”. Kathy Kituai won the poetry section for her book “Deep in the Valley of Tea Bowls”, while “Horace the Baker’s Horse” by Jackie French, illustrated by Peter Bray, was the winner in the children’s literature section.

The long-standing Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award was won by Ron Schroer for his story “Sandman”, while the new June Shenfield Poetry Award went to Hessom Razavi for “Ghost”.

The Anne Edgeworth Fellowship for Young Writers was introduced to the crowd by Tony Godfrey Smith, the son of the late writer who died in 2011. The Fellowship, based on a gruelling interview project process, provides up to $5000, and this year went to Rosanna Stevens, who gave the audience her ‘thumbs up’ when it was announced that her planned writing project related to “the cultural context of menstruation”.

More information at arts.act.gov.au