These are the shortlists for the 2020 Indie Book Awards for the best Australian books published in 2019.
Fiction
- There Was Still Love (Favel Parrett, Hachette)
- Bruny (Heather Rose, A&U)
- The Wife and the Widow (Christian White, Affirm)
- The Weekend (Charlotte Wood, A&U)
Hmm. Let’s take another look at the longlist, announced in December:
FICTION LONGLIST
- The White Girl by Tony Birch (University of Queensland Press), see my review
- The Rip by Mark Brandi (Hachette Australia)
- Silver by Chris Hammer (Allen and Unwin)
- There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett (Hachette Australia), see my review and Theresa’s at Theresa Smith Writes
- Maybe the Horse Will Talk by Elliot Perlman (Vintage Australia), see my review
- Bruny by Heather Rose (Allen and Unwin), see my review
- Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas (Allen and Unwin)
- The Wife and the Widow by Christian White (Affirm Press)
- The Yield by Tara June Winch (Hamish Hamilton Australia), see my review
- The Weekend by Charlotte Wood (Allen and Unwin), see my review and Theresa’s at Theresa Smith Writes
Nonfiction
- Your Own Kind of Girl (Clare Bowditch, A&U), see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
- 488 Rules for Life: The thankless art of being correct (Kitty Flanagan, A&U)
- Tell Me Why (Archie Roach, S&S)
- Sand Talk: How Indigenous thinking can save the world (Tyson Yunkaporta, Text)
I went to the session about Sand talk at the Non Fiction festival in Geelong and started the book when I got home, but it lost me in the Introduction. I might have another go at it during 2020 Indigenous Literature Week, or I might not, depending on my tolerance for rambling at the time. I haven’t read any of the others, and don’t want to.
Debut fiction
- Wearing Paper Dresses (Anne Brinsden, Macmillan)
- Allegra in Three Parts (Suzanne Daniel, Macmillan), see Theresa’s review at Theresa Smith Writes
- The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone (Felicity McLean, Fourth Estate)
- Heart of the Grass Tree (Molly Murn, Vintage)
Illustrated nonfiction
- The Lost Boys (Paul Byrnes, Affirm)
- Finding the Heart of the Nation (Thomas Mayor, Hardie Grant)
- The Whole Fish Cookbook (Josh Niland, Hardie Grant)
- In an Australian Light (ed by Jo Turner, Thames & Hudson)
Young adult
- The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling (Wai Chim, A&U)
- Aurora Rising: The Aurora Cycle 1 (Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff, A&U)
- It Sounded Better in My Head (Nina Kenwood, Text)
- Monuments (Will Kostakis, Lothian)
Children’s
- The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals (Sami Bayly, Lothian)
- Into the Wild: Wolf Girl Book 1 (Anh Do, illus by Jeremy Ley, A&U)
- The Tiny Star (Mem Fox, illus by Freya Blackwood, Puffin)
- Young Dark Emu: A truer history (Bruce Pascoe, Magabala). Update: I’ve read the adult version of this and am pleased to see a junior edition of it.
The winners will be announced on 23 March at the 2020 Leading Edge Books conference in Brisbane. For more information about the awards, visit the website.
I don’t have any opinions about who should win (I wasn’t a fan of either Bruny or The Weekend) but I bought Aurora Rising for Ms YA and I’d like to look at the Pascoe and the Anh Do for her young sister (all right, I don’t remember her age. I guess she’ll turn either 8 or 9).
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By: wadholloway on January 15, 2020
at 10:54 am
Have you seen the furore over Bruce Pascoe’s Aboriginality being questioned, by another Aboriginal? (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/11/peter-duttons-office-referred-complaint-accusing-bruce-pascoe-of-falsely-claiming-to-be-indigenous-to-afp)
What a sad state of affairs it is…
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 11:04 am
I read it, yesterday I guess. I think the complainant wants a registry of Aboriginality. Seems excessive. And we already have an Aboriginal electoral roll. Anything which involves Dutton has to be bad, I hope they sort it out.
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By: wadholloway on January 15, 2020
at 11:10 am
I think that referring it to Dutton says more about the complainant than it does about Dutton.
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 11:13 am
I’m going to pick up the Favel Parret and Perlman book. Both sound interesting.
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By: TravellinPenguin on January 15, 2020
at 11:11 am
Let me know what you think of them, do!
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 11:13 am
Hmmm… the fiction shortlist doesn’t fill me with great excitement. I liked The Weekend but didn’t think much of Bruny…
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By: kimbofo on January 15, 2020
at 4:44 pm
Sometimes this award is more of a bestsellers award…
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 6:13 pm
I’ve read a few on this list. The Weekend, There Was Still Love, Your Own Kind Of Girl (which I’m thrilled to see on the shortlist), Allegra in Three Parts. All good reads!
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By: Theresa Smith Writes on January 15, 2020
at 6:33 pm
Can I please have your URLS if you’ve reviewed them so that I can link to the reviews? (Don’t worry if it goes to moderation, my settings send any URLS more than two in a comment to moderation).
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 7:26 pm
The Weekend: https://theresasmithwrites.com/2019/11/27/book-review-the-weekend-by-charlotte-wood/
There Was Still Love: https://theresasmithwrites.com/2019/11/03/book-review-there-was-still-love-by-favel-parrett/
Your Own Kind Of Girl: https://theresasmithwrites.com/2019/11/26/book-review-your-own-kind-of-girl-by-clare-bowditch/
Allegra In Three Parts: https://theresasmithwrites.com/2019/06/26/book-review-allegra-in-three-parts-by-suzanne-daniel/
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By: Theresa Smith Writes on January 15, 2020
at 7:59 pm
Done! Thank you!
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By: Lisa Hill on January 15, 2020
at 8:22 pm
I’m sitting bored at a roadhouse table and was just getting warmed up! Oh well, I do have a review to write.
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By: wadholloway on January 15, 2020
at 8:23 pm
Anytime! 😊
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By: Theresa Smith Writes on January 15, 2020
at 8:25 pm
[…] Short Stories from the top menu). Her first novel, Wearing Paper Dresses was shortlisted for the 2020 Indie Book Awards for Debut Fiction. Now that I’ve read it, I know […]
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By: Wearing Paper Dresses, by Anne Brinsden | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on February 15, 2021
at 1:55 pm