Minister for the Arts and Community Events Gordon Ramsay today announced six authors are in the running to win the $10,000 2017 Book of the Year Award. The Award recognizes excellence in literature and supports writers based in Canberra.
“I would like to congratulate Laura Dawes for her book Fighting Fit, Russell Erwin for Maps of Small Countries, Tom Griffiths for The Art of Time Travel, Jack Heath for The Fail Safe, Kim Mahood for Position Doubtful and Jennifer Rayner for Generation Less,” Minister Ramsay commented “Each of the shortlisted books is an excellent example of its genre, with the shortlist ranging across poetry, fiction and non-fiction. These books, as well as the other 24 nominations received this year, demonstrates the depth and variety of talent that exists in our local literary community.”
The Minister also thanked the judges – Maureen Bettle, Frank Bongiorno and Charlotte Harper – for their own contributions to the writing sector and their commitment to reading this year’s entries. The Minister that he is looking forward to announcing the winner of the Award in December. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to seek out one or more of the books from their local library or bookstore. For More Information