They’ve just announced the 2017 shortlist for the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction….
According to the press release, the prize recognises exciting and exceptional new contributions to local literature, with the books are selected by a judging panel made up of Readings booksellers.
The shortlisted books are:
The Windy Season by Sam Carmody, see my review,
Australia Day by Melanie Cheng,
The Good People by Hannah Kent,
The Lost Pages by Marija Peričić, see my review
From the Wreck by Jane Rawson, see my review and
Jean Harley Was Here by Heather Taylor Johnson.
Congratulations to all the authors, editors and publishers!
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
I’ve bought two of these and read one. I was going to say I hope Jane wins, she is such an original writer, but I’ve read all the synopses, they all sound great, and now I hope everyone wins.
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By: wadholloway on August 22, 2017
at 2:33 pm
Well, I’d be hard pressed to choose between the three I’ve read. I would be a hopeless judge!
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By: Lisa Hill on August 22, 2017
at 4:34 pm
This morning I listened to a podcast interview with Mark Rubbo, Readings’ Managing Director (it was on The Garret, which is excellent, BTW). He said this prize was introduced about 4-5 years ago, at a time when the business wasn’t doing so well and they were necessarily focused on selling the big international books that make money. This prize helped them to return the business’ focus to new Australian writers – which is what a management consultant might call their true value proposition, and what Mark Rubbo described as their soul. Wonderful stuff.
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By: MST on August 22, 2017
at 4:31 pm
I have a feeling that I may yet learn to discover podcasts…
It will soon be time for me to buy another car, and all the new ones seem to mandate either a phone or an iPod instead of a proper 6-stack CD player which is what I have now. So *sigh* I am going to have to join The Modern World and learn to negotiate iTunes…
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By: Lisa Hill on August 22, 2017
at 4:38 pm
I have only read The Good People which I enjoyed. Will need to look out for the others and add them to my 3 million books I wish to read in my lifetime.
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By: travellinpenguin on August 22, 2017
at 4:48 pm
Only three million? Ha ha!
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By: Lisa Hill on August 22, 2017
at 6:30 pm
What a good looking list! I will have to check them out!!
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By: Glimpsing Gembles Blog on August 23, 2017
at 10:52 pm