The six books in the running for the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award have just been revealed at a ceremony held at the State Library of New South Wales.
Richard Neville, State Library of NSW Mitchell Librarian and Chair of the judging panel, said:
“In various ways each of this year’s shortlisted books investigate destructive loss: of loved ones, freedom, self and the environment. There is, of course, beauty and joy to be found, and decency and hope, largely through the embrace of community but, as the shortlist reminds us, often community is no match for more powerful forces.”
Managed by Perpetual and presented in association with the Copyright Agency, the $60,000 prize is given annually to a novel that tells a story of Australian life. Each of the shortlisted authors will receive $5,000 in prize money.
This year’s winner will be announced on the 15th of July — scroll down to check out the full 2021 Miles Franklin shortlist!
Amnesty
by Aravind Adiga
Danny – Dhananjaya Rajaratnam – is an illegal immigrant in Sydney having fled Sri Lanka. For three years he’s been trying to create a new identity for himself, but then one morning he learns a female client of his has been murdered. Should Danny come forward with knowledge he has about the crime and risk getting deported, or saying nothing? Over the course of a single day he must wrestle with his conscience and decide if a person without rights still has responsibilities.
Buy it here
The Rain Heron
by Robbie Arnott
Robbie Arnott’s second novel is equal parts horror and wonder, and utterly gripping. Ren lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading – and forgetting. But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a local myth, Ren is inexorably drawn into an impossible mission.
Buy it here
At the Edge of the Solid World
by Daniel Davis Wood
In a village in the Swiss Alps, a husband and wife find their lives breaking apart following the death of their firstborn. On the other side of the world, in their hometown of Sydney, a man commits an act of shocking violence that captures international attention. As the husband recognises signs of his own grief in both the survivors and the perpetrator, his fixation on the case feeds into insomnia, trauma and an obsession with the terms on which we give value to human lives.
Buy it here
The Labyrinth
by Amanda Lohrey
This deeply meditative book follows Erica Marsden, who, in a state of grief, retreats to a quiet hamlet near the prison where her son, an artist, has been imprisoned for homicidal negligence. Living in a rundown shack, she obsesses over creating a labyrinth by the ocean. To build it, Erica will need the help of strangers. This is a hypnotic story of guilt and denial as well as a meditation on how art can be both ruthlessly destructive and restorative.
Buy it here
Lucky’s
by Andrew Pippos
The book centres around Lucky, a second-generation Chicago-born clarinet-playing Greek man who finds himself in wartime Australia in the ’40s, escaping service by impersonating “king of swing” Benny Goodman. Lucky comes into money through personal tragedy and uses it to run a successful franchise of café diners. Spanning decades, this unforgettable epic tells a story about lives bound together by the pursuit of love, family, and new beginnings.
Buy it here
The Inland Sea
by Madeleine Watts
This debut novel is about coming of age in a dying world and exploring our capacity for harming ourselves, each other and the world around us. Facing the open wilderness of adulthood, our young narrator finds that the world around her is coming undone. She works part-time as an emergency dispatch operator, tracking the fires and floods that rage across Australia during an increasingly unstable year. Drinking heavily, sleeping with strangers, she finds herself wandering Sydney’s streets late at night as she navigates a troubled affair with an ex lover. Reckless and adrift, she begins to contemplate leaving.
Buy it here
Congratulations to all of the authors on the 2021 Miles Franklin shortlist!
Find out more about the Miles Franklin Literary Award 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.
Follow Olivia: Twitter
Amanda Lohrey wins the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award! 
The 2021 Miles Franklin Longlist is here!
Comments
No comments