Miles Franklin Award
Australian literature award
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases".[1] The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1954), who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career (1901). She bequeathed her estate to fund this award.[2] As of 2025, the award is valued at A$60,000.[3][4]
| Miles Franklin Literary Award | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases |
| Sponsored by | Estate of Miles Franklin |
| Location | Australia |
| First award | 1957 |
| Website | Miles Franklin Award |
Winners, old dating convention
The prize originally took its date from the year in which eligible novels were published, ignoring the fact that it was not awarded until the following year.
1957–1959
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Patrick White | Voss | Eyre and Spottiswoode | [5] |
| 1958 | Randolph Stow | To the Islands | Macdonald | [6] |
| 1959 | Vance Palmer | The Big Fellow | Angus and Robertson | [7] |
1960–1969
1970–1979
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Dal Stivens | A Horse of Air | Angus and Robertson | [18] |
| 1971 | David Ireland | The Unknown Industrial Prisoner | Angus and Robertson | [19] |
| 1972 | Thea Astley | The Acolyte | Angus and Robertson | [20] |
| 1973 | Award withheld after the judges decided that none of the novels entered was good enough | [21] | ||
| 1974 | Ronald McKie | The Mango Tree | Collins | [22] |
| 1975 | Xavier Herbert | Poor Fellow My Country | Fontana Books | [23] |
| 1976 | David Ireland | The Glass Canoe | Macmillan | [24] |
| 1977 | Ruth Park | Swords and Crowns and Rings | Nelson Books | [25] |
| 1978 | Jessica Anderson | Tirra Lirra by the River | Macmillan | [26] |
| 1979 | David Ireland | A Woman of the Future | Penguin Books | [27] |
1980–1987
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Jessica Anderson | The Impersonators | Macmillan | [28] |
| 1981 | Peter Carey | Bliss | Faber and Faber | [29] |
| 1982 | Rodney Hall | Just Relations | Penguin Books | [30] |
| 1983 | Award withheld after the judges decided that none of the novels entered was good enough | [31] | ||
| 1984 | Tim Winton | Shallows | Allen and Unwin | [32] |
| 1985 | Christopher Koch | The Doubleman | Chatto and Windus | [33] |
| 1986 | Elizabeth Jolley | The Well | Viking Press | [34] |
| 1987 | Glenda Adams | Dancing on Coral | Viking Press | [35] |
Winners, new dating convention
The prize is still for the best novel published during the preceding year, but now bears the date of the year in which it is awarded. While the change meant there was no prize called "1988", there is no break in the annual series.[36] The award for novels published in 1987 was announced on 10 May 1988 as the "1987" prize (won by Glenda Adams),[37] and the award for novels published in 1988 was announced on 25 July 1989 as the "1989" prize (won by Peter Carey).[38]
1989
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Peter Carey | Oscar and Lucinda | University of Queensland Press | [39] |
1990–1999
2000–2009
2010–2019
2020–
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Tara June Winch | The Yield | Penguin Random House | [70] |
| 2021 | Amanda Lohrey | The Labyrinth | Text Publishing | [71] |
| 2022 | Jennifer Down | Bodies of Light | Text Publishing | [72] |
| 2023 | Shankari Chandran | Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens | Ultimo Press | [73] |
| 2024 | Alexis Wright | Praiseworthy | Giramondo | [74] |
| 2025 | Siang Lu | Ghost Cities | University of Queensland Press | [75] |
| 2026 | Omar Musa | Fierceland | Penguin Random House | [76] |
Controversies
Author Frank Moorhouse was disqualified from consideration for his novel Grand Days because the story was set in Europe during the 1920s and was not sufficiently Australian.[77]
1995 winner Helen Darville, also known as Helen Demidenko and Helen Dale, won for The Hand That Signed the Paper and sparked a debate about authenticity in Australian literature. Darville claimed to be of Ukrainian descent and said it was fiction based on family history. Writer David Marr, who presented the award to her, said that revelations about her true background did not "alter a single thing about the quality of the story, it knocks completely out of the water her answers to critics who said it was not historically accurate, that she knows because of direct family experience, which appears to be complete bull----."[78]
Even before the hoax was revealed, Darville’s book was considered anti-Semitic and justified the genocide of Jewish people.[79] It was also later revealed that she plagiarised from multiple sources.[80]
In 2004, three judges resigned due to what they viewed as the commodification of the awards.[81]
2022 longlisted writer John Hughes was accused of plagiarising significant sections of his 2021 book The Dogs from Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich's nonfiction book The Unwomanly Face of War. Nearly 60 similarities and identical sentences were found in a comparison of Hughes' novel and the English version of Alexievich's book. The Guardian newspaper also found similarities between incidents described in the books, including the central scene from which The Dogs takes its title.[82] Further investigation found other examples of plagiarism in the novel and that Hughes copied sections of classic texts including The Great Gatsby and Anna Karenina without acknowledging the original source.[83] The book was subsequently withdrawn from competition.
The Stella Prize was created in 2013 as a reaction to the supposed under-representation of women as winners of literary prizes, in particular the 2011 Miles Franklin Award shortlist.[84][85] However, since 2013, only three men have won the Miles Franklin Award.
Repeat winners
- (4) Thea Astley: 1962, 1965, 1972, 2000
- (4) Tim Winton: 1984, 1992, 2002, 2009
- (3) Peter Carey: 1981, 1989, 1998
- (3) David Ireland: 1971, 1976, 1979
- (2) Jessica Anderson: 1978, 1980
- (2) Rodney Hall: 1982, 1994
- (2) Thomas Keneally: 1967, 1968
- (2) Michelle de Kretser: 2013, 2018
- (2) George Johnston: 1964, 1969
- (2) Christopher Koch: 1985, 1996
- (2) Alex Miller: 1993, 2003
- (2) Kim Scott: 2000, 2011
- (2) Patrick White: 1957, 1961
- (2) Alexis Wright: 2007, 2024[74]
Nominated works
Shortlisted titles are only shown for the years 1987 onwards. No record has yet been found for any shortlists being released prior to that year. Longlisted titles are only shown for the years 2005 onwards. That was the first year that such a list was released by the judging panel. The number of works included on the longlist varies from year to year.
1980s
In 1989, the date by which the prize is identified changed from the year of publication to the year of announcement. While there was no award called "1988", there is no break in the annual series (see above).
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 for novels published in 1987, announced in 1988 |
Glenda Adams | Dancing on Coral | Winner[35] |
| Murray Bail | Holden's Performance | Shortlist[86] | |
| Nicholas Hasluck | Truant State | ||
| David Ireland | Bloodfather | ||
| Nancy Phelan | Home Is the Sailor | ||
| 1989 for novels published in 1988, announced in 1989 |
Peter Carey | Oscar and Lucinda | Winner[87] |
| Rodney Hall | Captivity Captive | Shortlist[88] | |
| Mark Henshaw | Out of the Line of Fire | ||
| David Parker | Building on Sand | ||
| Janette Turner Hospital | Charades |
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Tara June Winch | The Yield | Winner[70] |
| Carrie Tiffany | Exploded View | Shortlist[143] | |
| Philip Salom | The Returns | ||
| John Hughes | No One | ||
| Peggy Frew | Islands | ||
| Tony Birch | The White Girl | ||
| Melanie Cheng | Room For a Stranger | Longlist[144] | |
| Anna Krien | Act of Grace | ||
| Gerald Murnane | A Season on Earth | ||
| Charlotte Wood | The Weekend | ||
| 2021 | Amanda Lohrey | The Labyrinth | Winner[71] |
| Aravind Adiga | Amnesty | Shortlist[145] | |
| Robbie Arnott | The Rain Heron | ||
| Daniel Davis Wood | At the Edge of the Solid World | ||
| Andrew Pippos | Lucky’s | ||
| Madeleine Watts | The Inland Sea | ||
| Gail Jones | Our Shadows | longlist[146] | |
| Sofie Laguna | Infinite Splendours | ||
| Laura Jean McKay | The Animals in That Country | ||
| Mirandi Riwoe | Stone Sky Gold Mountain | ||
| Philip Salom | The Fifth Season | ||
| Nardi Simpson | Song of the Crocodile | ||
| 2022 | Jennifer Down | Bodies of Light | Winner[72] |
| Michael Mohammed Ahmad | The Other Half of You | Shortlist[147] | |
| Michelle de Kretser | Scary Monsters | ||
| Alice Pung | One Hundred Days | ||
| Michael Winkler | Grimmish | ||
| Larissa Behrendt | After Story | Longlist[148] | |
| Briohny Doyle | Echolalia | ||
| Max Easton | The Magpie Wing | ||
| Jennifer Mills | The Airways | ||
| Claire Thomas | The Performance | ||
| Christos Tsiolkas | 7 ½ | ||
| 2023 | Shankari Chandran | Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens | Winner[73] |
| Kgshak Akec | Hopeless Kingdom | Shortlist[149] | |
| Robbie Arnott | Limberlost | ||
| Jessica Au | Cold Enough for Snow | ||
| Yumna Kassab | The Lovers | ||
| Fiona Kelly McGregor | Iris | ||
| Claire G. Coleman | Enclave | Longlist[150] | |
| George Haddad | Losing Face | ||
| Pirooz Jafari | Forty Nights | ||
| Julie Janson | Madukka: The River Serpent | ||
| Adam Ouston | Waypoints | ||
| 2024 | Alexis Wright | Praiseworthy | Winner[74] |
| Hossein Asgari | Only Sound Remains | Shortlist[151] | |
| Jen Craig | Wall | ||
| Andre Dao | Anam | ||
| Gregory Day | The Bell of the World | ||
| Sanya Rushdi | Hospital | ||
| Lauren Aimee Curtis | Strangers at the Port | Longlist[152] | |
| Melissa Lucashenko | Edenglassie | ||
| Angela O'Keeffe | The Sitter | ||
| Charlotte Wood | Stone Yard Devotional | ||
| 2025 | Siang Lu | Ghost Cities | Winner[153] |
| Brian Castro | Chinese Postman | Shortlist[154] | |
| Michelle de Kretser | Theory & Practice | ||
| Winnie Dunn | Dirt Poor Islanders | ||
| Julie Janson | Compassion | ||
| Fiona McFarlane | Highway 13 | ||
| Melanie Cheng | The Burrow | Longlist[155] | |
| Yumna Kassab | Politica | ||
| Raeden Richardson | The Degenerates | ||
| Tim Winton | Juice | ||
| 2026 | Omar Musa | Fierceland | Winner[76] |
| Randa Abdel-Fattah | Discipline | Shortlist[156] | |
| Steve MinOn | First Name Second Name | ||
| Konrad Muller | My Heart at Evening | ||
| Josephine Rowe | Little World | ||
| Sean Wilson | You Must Remember This | ||
| Lyn Dickens | Salt Upon the Water | Longlist[157] | |
| Toni Jordan | Tenderfoot | ||
| Madeleine Watts | Elegy, Southwest |