Foal's Bread

Foal's Bread

Author	Gillian Mears
Language	English
Genre	Literary
Publisher	Allen and Unwin, Australia
Publication date	2011
Publication place	Australia
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	361 pp
ISBN	9781742376295
Preceded by	The Grass Sister

Foal's Bread is a 2011 novel by Australian author Gillian Mears.^[1]

It was the winner of the 2012 ALS Gold Medal, the Age Book of the Year for Fiction, the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction, and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and the Barbara Jefferis Award.

The main subject of the novel is the golden era of Australian show-jumping between the wars. Roley Nancarrow is the 1926 high jump record holder for New South Wales, and, while competing one day at a country show, is captivated by Noah Childs, a 14-year-old drover's daughter, who can coax tired old horses into extraordinary feats. Riding out in a storm one day, Nancarrow is struck by lightning. The novel examines his steady decline into paralysis from the lightning-strike and the effect this has on his horse-riding passion and relationship with Noah.

Awards

2011 winner Colin Roderick Award^[2]
2012 winner Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — The Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction^[3]
2012 winner The Age Book of the Year — Fiction Prize^[4]
2012 shortlisted Booksellers Choice Award
2012 shortlisted Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction^[5]
2012 winner ALS Gold Medal^[6]
2012 shortlisted Barbara Jefferis Award^[7]
2012 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award^[8]
2012 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian General Fiction Book of the Year
2012 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Book of the Year
2012 shortlisted Nita Kibble Literary Award
2012 winner Prime Minister's Literary Awards — Fiction^[9]
2013 longlisted International Dublin Literary Award
2013 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
2014 shortlisted Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature — Award for Fiction

v t e Prime Minister's Literary Award – Fiction
2008-2009	The Zookeeper's War by Steven Conte (2008) The Boat by Nam Le (2009)
2010-2019	Dog Boy by Eva Hornung (2010) Traitor by Stephen Daisley (2011) Foal's Bread by Gillian Mears (2012) Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser (2013) A World of Other People by Steven Conte (2014) The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (2014) The Golden Age by Joan London (2015) The Life of Houses by Lisa Gorton (2016) The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood (2016) Their Brilliant Careers by Ryan O'Neill (2017) Border Districts by Gerald Murnane (2018) The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones (2019)
2020–present	The Yield by Tara June Winch (2020) The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey (2021) Red Heaven by Nicolas Rothwell (2022) Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au (2023) Anam by André Dao (2024) Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser (2025)

v t e Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction
1985-1989	Antipodes by David Malouf (1985) Illywhacker by Peter Carey (1986) Second Sight by Janine Burke (1987) Holden's Performance by Murray Bail (1988) Captivity Captive by Rodney Hall (1989)
1990-1999	Oceana Fine by Tom Flood (1990) Still Murder by Finola Moorhead (1991) Double-Wolf by Brian Castro (1992) After China by Brian Castro (1993) What I Have Written by John A. Scott (1994) Dark Places by Kate Grenville (1995) Camille's Bread by Amanda Lohrey (1996) The Drowner by Robert Drewe (1997) The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan (1998) Mr. Darwin's Shooter by Roger McDonald (1999)
2000-2009	Out of Ireland by Christopher Koch (2000) True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2001) Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish by Richard Flanagan (2002) Shanghai Dancing by Brian Castro (2003) Slow Water by Annamarie Jagose (2004) Surrender by Sonya Hartnett (2005) Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey (2006) Carpentaria by Alexis Wright (2007) The Spare Room by Helen Garner (2008) The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (2009)
2010-2019	Truth by Peter Temple (2010) That Deadman Dance by Tim Scott (2011) Foal's Bread by Gillian Mears (2012) Coal Creek by Alex Miller (2014) To Name Those Lost by Rohan Wilson (2015) The World Without Us by Mireille Juchau (2016) Between a Wolf and a Dog by Georgia Blain (2017) Australia Day by Melanie Cheng (2018) The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise Valmorbida (2019)
2020–present	Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas (2020) The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay (2021) Smokehouse by Melissa Manning (2022) Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au (2023) Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko (2024) Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane (2025)
Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry (1985–present)

v t e The Age Book of the Year Awards - Fiction
1974-1979	The Pure Land by David Foster (1974) A Kindness Cup by Thea Astley (1975) A Late Picking: Poems 1965–1974 by A. D. Hope (1976) No Award (1977) The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch (1978) 1915: A Novel of Gallipoli by Roger McDonald (1979)
1980-1989	Homesickness by Murray Bail (1980) A Woman of the Future by David Ireland (1980) Turtle Beach by Blanche d'Alpuget (1981) Fly Away Peter by David Malouf (1982) Mr Scobie's Riddle by Elizabeth Jolley (1983) The Bellarmine Jug by Nicholas Hasluck (1984) Illywhacker by Peter Carey (1985) Sister Ships and Other Stories by Joan London (1986) Stories from the Warm Zone by Jessica Anderson (1987) Forty-Seventeen by Frank Moorhouse (1988) My Father's Moon by Elizabeth Jolley (1989)
1990-1999	Longleg by Glenda Adams (1990) Double-Wolf by Brian Castro (1991) Lovers' Knots by Marion Halligan (1992) The Georges' Wife by Elizabeth Jolley (1993) The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith by Peter Carey (1994) Billy Sunday by Rod Jones (1995) The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow by Thea Astley (1996) Jack Maggs by Peter Carey (1997) Three Dollars by Elliot Perlman (1998) The Deep Field by James Bradley (1999)
2000-2009	Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop by Amy Witting (2000) True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2001) Gilgamesh by Joan London (2002) Of a Boy by Sonya Hartnett (2003) The White Earth by Andrew McGahan (2004) Sixty Lights by Gail Jones (2005) Dead Europe by Christos Tsiolkas (2006) Every Move You Make by David Malouf (2007) Breath by Tim Winton (2008) Things We Didn't See Coming by Steven Amsterdam (2009)
2010-2012	Lovesong by Alex Miller (2010) Indelible Ink by Fiona McGregor (2011) Foal's Bread by Gillian Mears (2012)
2021-	The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott (2021) In Moonland by Miles Allinson (2022) Limberlost by Robbie Arnott (2023) Women & Children by Tony Birch (2024) Vortex by Rodney Hall (2025)

Awards

Notes

Reviews

References

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