The winners of the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards were revealed last night, with Wiradjuri author Tara June Winch winning in three major categories, including Book of the Year, the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and the People’s Choice Award.
This is the second time in the history of the Awards that one book has won three prizes. Winch’s book was enthusiastically praised by the judges, with their official comments declaring that:
The Yield makes a powerful argument about the urgency of revitalising Indigenous language. It shows how stories, whether personal or national, can be embedded in a single word and how much we risk losing when we don’t know what those words are any more. It shows how language is a lens through which we can understand the story of a people and culture dispossessed while simultaneously celebrating what can and does endure.
In her acceptance speech recorded from her home in France, Winch thanked the many Elders and linguists who work tirelessly to preserve the language of the Wiradjuri people.
Scroll down to see the full list of winners!
Book of the Year ($10,000): The Yield by Tara June Winch
Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000): The Yield by Tara June Winch
UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing ($5,000): Real Differences by S. L. Lim
Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-fiction ($40,000): Tiberius with a Telephone: The Life and Stories of William McMahon by Patrick Mullins
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry ($30,000): Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness by Peter Boyle
Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature ($30,000): joint winners Ella and the Ocean by Lian Tanner and Jonathan Bentley
Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature ($30,000): Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee
Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting ($30,000): Counting and Cracking by S. Shakthidharan, Associate writer Eamon Flack
Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting ($30,000): joint winners ‘Missing’ by Kylie Boltin (SBS) The Cry, Episode 2 by Jacquelin Perske
Multicultural NSW Award ($20,000): The Pillars by Peter Polites
Indigenous Writers’ Prize ($30,000) — biennial award: The White Girl by Tony Birch
People’s Choice Award: The Yield by Tara June Winch
Congratulations to all of the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Award winners!
Find out more about the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards here.
About the Contributor
Olivia Fricot
Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.
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