ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

The Kibble and Dobbie  awards have been celebrating the work of Australia’s women writers for 20 years, and they are among my favourite awards. I like them because they differentiate between established and debut authors, and because they were set up to honour a trail-blazing woman.  As the press release tells us:

The awards commemorate the trail-blazing Nita B. Kibble (1879-1962), the first female librarian at the State Library of New South Wales who was employed in 1899 after her signature was mistaken for a man’s when she applied for a junior position. Her niece, Nita May Dobbie (1904-1992), established the awards in her will to celebrate her aunt’s legacy and to support Australian women’s writing.

• The Kibble Literary Award (currently valued at $30,000) recognises the work of an established Australian woman writer.
• The Dobbie Literary Award (currently valued at $5,000) recognises a first published work from an Australian woman writer.

The 2013 shortlisted authors for the Kibble are:

• The Beloved by Annah Faulkner, see my review
• Like a House on Fire by Cate Kennedy, see the review at The Australian
• Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser, see my review

The shortlisted authors for the Dobbie  are:

• Floundering by Romy Ash , see my review
• Toyo: A Memoir by Lily Chan, see the review at the Australian
• The Burial Courtney Collins, see Sue’s review at Whispering Gums or Kim’s at Reading Matters

The winners will be announced on Wednesday, 24 July 2013.

Congratulations to all the authors and publishers:)