ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

I’m just home from the awards presentation for the 2015 Melbourne Prize for Literature!  It was a splendid occasion, a great gathering of Melbourne’s literary community, and definitely a night to remember.

The winner of the Writers’ Prize and the residency at the University of Melbourne’s School of Culture & Communications is Kate Ryan, for her essay Psychotherapy for Normal People (which you can read online);

The winner of the Best Writing Prize is Andrea Goldsmith, for her novel The Memory Trap (see my review and a Sensational Snippet); and

*drum roll

The winner of the Melbourne Prize for Literature is eminent poet Chris Wallace-Crabbe.  Congratulations to the judges for choosing a poet to win this major prize because it doesn’t happen often!  You can read some of Wallace-Crabbe’s poetry at the Australian Poetry Library.  (BTW I see from his bio there that he has also written a novel called Splinters, so of course I’m now on a quest to track down a copy).

You can see a picture of the happy winners and the judges here.  (Andrea Goldsmith is overseas.)

Melbourne is very lucky to have had Simon Warrender take the initiative to set up this wonderful prize.  He said tonight that philanthropy is a form of community engagement and it’s wonderful to see generous support coming from many sectors to enhance Melbourne’s standing as a UNESCO City of Literature.  You can see the list of patrons on the Melbourne Prize Trust website.

(If you’d like to support the Melbourne Prize with a tax-deductible donation too, contact the Melbourne Prize Trust.  Donations large and small are welcome!)

You can visit the Melbourne Prize Finalists Exhibition in Federation Square until November 23rd – and you can vote for the Civic Choice award either at the exhibition or online.

Finalists’ books are all available from Readings Bookstores.