Latest news with #Tongan-Australian
Perth Now
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Writers of colour dominate Miles Franklin shortlist
Five writers of colour have been shortlisted for Australia's most prestigious literary prize. Hong Kong-born Brian Castro, Sri-Lankan-born Michelle de Kretser, Tongan-Australian Winnie Dunn, Burruberongal woman Julie Janson, Malaysian-born Siang Lu and Fiona McFarlane comprise the shortlist for the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award, released on Wednesday. The winner of the $60,000 prize will be announced on July 25 by award trustee Perpetual and the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund. Janson, Lu and debut author Dunn are shortlisted for the first time, joining 2013 and 2018 winner de Kretser, and Castro and McFarlane, who have previously been shortlisted. Judges said the shortlist "celebrates writing that refuses to compromise". "Each of these works vitalises the form of the novel and invents new languages for the Australian experience," they said. Copyright Agency chief executive Josephine Johnston said the shortlist highlighted the extraordinary breadth of Australian storytelling. "From a powerful debut to new works by first-time nominees and acclaimed authors, the shortlist reflects the richness and diversity of voices shaping our literary landscape," she said. Shortlisted authors each receive $5000 from the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund. The Award was established in 1954 by the estate of My Brilliant Career author Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin to celebrate the Australian character and creativity. It supports the betterment of literature by recognising the novel of the highest literary merit each year which presents "Australian life in any of its phases". 2025 MILES FRANKLIN AWARD SHORTLIST: * Chinese Postman by Brian Castro * Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser * Dirt Poor Islanders by Winnie Dunn * Compassion by Julie Janson * Ghost Cities by Siang Lu * Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane
Sydney Morning Herald
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This year's Miles Franklin shortlist features an Australian first
A first of its kind novel in Australian publishing has made the shortlist for this year's Miles Franklin award, along with two first-time nominees, two previously shortlisted authors and two-time winner Michelle de Kretser. Winnie Dunn's debut Dirt Poor Islanders, which draws on her own experiences of growing up as Tongan-Australian, has been nominated for the prestigious award, along with Chinese Postman by Brian Castro; Compassion by Burruberongal author Julie Janson; Ghost Cities by Siang Lu; Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser and Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane. The shortlist, the judging panel said, celebrated writing that refuses to compromise. 'Each of these works vitalises the form of the novel and invents new languages for the Australian experience,' they said in a statement. The subjects across the shortlist also reflect the breadth of the Australian experiences. Castro's Chinese Postman is about an elderly Chinese migrant reflecting on his life; Theory & Practice by de Kretser is set in the academic scene in the 1980s; Lu's Ghost Cities blends current-day Sydney and Chinese mythology; Compassion is a fictionalised account of one of Indigenous author Janson's ancestors, and the short stories in McFarlane's Highway 13 are loosely pegged to a serial killer based on Ivan Milat. Dunn's debut Dirt Poor Islanders is the first Tongan-Australian novel published in Australia. She was 'very shocked' to have been nominated, she said. 'I'm still … reeling from it! It's amazing and I feel really lucky.' Dunn, who grew up in western Sydney's Mount Druitt, challenges reductive and popular racist representations of the Tongan-Australian community in her novel, the judges said. ' Dirt Poor Islanders is a tender and arresting story of a young protagonist … whose life in Western Sydney is framed by her experience as a Tongan Australian,' the panel said. The 29-year-old had always wanted to be a writer, and after university, honed her skills at Sydney's Sweatshop Literacy Movement in Sydney, an organisation that provides research, training and mentoring for emerging and established writers from Indigenous and non-English-speaking backgrounds, where she is now general manager.
The Age
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
This year's Miles Franklin shortlist features an Australian first
A first of its kind novel in Australian publishing has made the shortlist for this year's Miles Franklin award, along with two first-time nominees, two previously shortlisted authors and two-time winner Michelle de Kretser. Winnie Dunn's debut Dirt Poor Islanders, which draws on her own experiences of growing up as Tongan-Australian, has been nominated for the prestigious award, along with Chinese Postman by Brian Castro; Compassion by Burruberongal author Julie Janson; Ghost Cities by Siang Lu; Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser and Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane. The shortlist, the judging panel said, celebrated writing that refuses to compromise. 'Each of these works vitalises the form of the novel and invents new languages for the Australian experience,' they said in a statement. The subjects across the shortlist also reflect the breadth of the Australian experiences. Castro's Chinese Postman is about an elderly Chinese migrant reflecting on his life; Theory & Practice by de Kretser is set in the academic scene in the 1980s; Lu's Ghost Cities blends current-day Sydney and Chinese mythology; Compassion is a fictionalised account of one of Indigenous author Janson's ancestors, and the short stories in McFarlane's Highway 13 are loosely pegged to a serial killer based on Ivan Milat. Dunn's debut Dirt Poor Islanders is the first Tongan-Australian novel published in Australia. She was 'very shocked' to have been nominated, she said. 'I'm still … reeling from it! It's amazing and I feel really lucky.' Dunn, who grew up in western Sydney's Mount Druitt, challenges reductive and popular racist representations of the Tongan-Australian community in her novel, the judges said. ' Dirt Poor Islanders is a tender and arresting story of a young protagonist … whose life in Western Sydney is framed by her experience as a Tongan Australian,' the panel said. The 29-year-old had always wanted to be a writer, and after university, honed her skills at Sydney's Sweatshop Literacy Movement in Sydney, an organisation that provides research, training and mentoring for emerging and established writers from Indigenous and non-English-speaking backgrounds, where she is now general manager.
