ACT Minister for the Arts Joy Burch recently announced that a record number of nominations has been received for the ACT Book of the Year award.
Ms Burch explained that there was a total of 48 nominations across fiction, non-fiction and poetry were received for books published in the 2013 calendar year, up from 28 for last year’s prize. All but one were from ACT residents.
“The strength of this year’s nominations shows demonstrates the vitality and diversity of Canberra’s writing community, particularly throughout our centenary year,” Ms Burch said.
Previous winners include ‘The Sex Lives of Australians: A History’ by Frank Bongiorno, ‘The Biggest Estate on Earth’ by Bill Gammage, ‘The River’ by Chris Hammer, and ‘Valley of Grace’ by Marion Halligan.
“Given both the number and the broad range of nominations, it will be a challenging task for the judging panel to decide on a shortlist and, ultimately, the award winner. The shortlist will be announced in time for Canberrans to support their local writers and bookstores by stocking up on some great Christmas holiday reading for themselves and as gifts for family and friends.” Ms Burch commented.