The $10,000 2022 ACT Book of the Year has been awarded to “Believe in Me”, by author Lucy Neave.
The judges say: “Lucy Neave’s second novel ‘Believe in Me’ moves across continents and time, telling an expansive story that vividly explores the bonds of motherhood, the fragility of knowing, and familial inheritance. ‘Believe in Me’ questions whether we can ever truly know of our parents’ early lives, even as their experiences weave ineffably into our identities and destinies. Neave writes assuredly and is never weighed down by her subject matter.”
Her first book “Who We Were” was shortlisted for ACT Book of the Year in 2018.
The judges – Sam Faulkner, Jasper Lindell and Patrick Mullins – also awarded three highly commended and three shortlisted novels from local authors this year:
- Winner: Believe in Me by Lucy Neave
- Highly Commended: The Kindness of Birds by Merlinda Bobis
- Highly Commended: Milk by Dylan van den Berg
- Highly Commended: Killernova by Omar Musa
- Shortlisted: Two Afternoons in the Kabul Stadium: A History of Afghanistan Through Clothes, Carpets and the Camera by Tim Bonyhady
- Shortlisted: Failures of Command: The Death of Private Robert Poate by Hugh Poate
- Shortlisted: As Beautiful As Any Other: A Memoir of My Body by Kaya Wilson.
Nominations for the 2023 ACT Book of the Year will open on May 1.
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