Amanda Lohrey wins the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award!

Tasmanian author Amanda Lohrey has just been announced as the winner of the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award! Lohrey has received the prestigious award for her novel, The Labyrinth, a lyrical exploration of grief that follows a woman named Erica who relocates to a small coastal shack to be near her incarcerated son.

Amanda Lohrey

Judge and Mitchell Librarian of the State Library of NSW and Chair, Richard Neville, said, “The Labyrinth is an elegiac novel, soaked in sadness. It is a beautifully written reflection on the conflicts between parents and children, men and women, and the value and purpose of creative work.”

The Labyrinth was picked from a contentious pool that included Robbie Arnott’s The Rain Heron and Araving Adiga’s Amnesty. Amanda Lohrey is the second Tasmanian novelist to win the prize, having been longlisted three times and shortlisted twice.

Upon winning the prize, Lohrey said, “It’s a tremendous honour to be associated with the remarkable Stella Miles Franklin, one of the great Australian mavericks.

“Awards like the Miles Franklin are so valuable because in attracting public attention they help Australian literature to flourish, and to compete with imported books. And that’s important because Australian literature is not an add on, a mere diversion, a sideshow to the main game. It sits at the heart of our national culture.”

The Miles Franklin Literary Award is given each year to a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases, with the winner taking home $60,000 in prize money. The Award is given with the support of its trustee, Perpetual, and The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.

Congratulations to Amanda Lohrey and Text Publishing!

Find out more about the Miles Franklin Literary Award here

The Labyrinth

by Amanda Lohrey

Erica Marsden's son, an artist, has been imprisoned for homicidal negligence. In a state of grief, Erica cuts off all ties to family and friends, and retreats to a quiet hamlet on the south-east coast near the prison where he is serving his sentence.

There, in a rundown shack, she obsesses over creating a labyrinth by the ocean. To build it-to find a way out of her quandary-Erica will need the help of strangers. And that will require her to trust, and to reckon with her past...

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