ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 Territory Read Books of the Year winners!

The following is taken from the press release:

Since 2009, the Territory Read awards have created an opportunity to celebrate excellence amongst published authors from the NT. They also draw national attention to NT writers and in the past have served to raise the profile of remote, regional and Indigenous authors.

CHIEF MINISTER’S BOOK OF THE YEAR

Mary Anne Butler
Broken
Currency Press, 2016

Mary Anne Butler’s extraordinary play script for Broken works as well on the page as it does for performance. Through an incredible blend of realism and surrealism, Broken’s wonderfully clever writing captures the distance and isolation of NT life. Her interwoven tales carry a highly tense and dramatic story that is both quintessentially Territorian and universal. If you’ve never thought about reading a play script before, this is definitely the place to start.

BEST NON FICTION

Frank Byrne, with Frances Coughlan and Gerard Waterford
Living in Hope
Ptilotus Press, 2017

Living in Hope, Frank Byrne’s unforgettable childhood memoir, reveals the life of a boy firstly living with his family in the Kimberly region of Western Australian and then, from the age of six, his life as a member of the Stolen Generations. The voice is vivid, authentic and full of life – a heartbreaking story that perfectly balances light and shade. Frank Byrne is a remarkable storyteller: intelligent, generous and clear-eyed in the face of obstacles and systemic cruelty. There are dozens of individual stories here, all told in Byrne’s luminous voice, and each one is an irreplaceable slice of Australian history.

BEST CHILDREN’S/YOUNG ADULT

Johanna Bell and Dion Beasley
Go Home, Cheeky Animals
Allen & Unwin, 2016

The latest offering from the successful partnership between Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell, Go Home, Cheeky Animals is a beautifully produced children’s book with a wonderful sense of humour that provides a rarely-seen insight into life in a remote Northern Territory community