Perpetual, the trustee of the Miles Franklin Literary Award, today announced eleven authors have been included on the 2023 Longlist. They will be competing for one of the most prominent literary prizes in Australia, with the winner also receiving $60,000.
The Miles Franklin Literary Award was established by feminist, and author of My Brilliant Career, Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin. First presented in 1957, the Award celebrates novels of the highest literary merit that tell stories about Australian life, shining a light on some of the country’s most accomplished writers.
The 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist is:
|
Author |
Novel |
Publisher |
|
Kgshak Akec |
Hopeless Kingdom |
UWA Publishing |
|
Robbie Arnott |
Limberlost |
Text Publishing |
|
Jessica Au |
Cold Enough for Snow |
Giramondo Publishing |
|
Shankari Chandran |
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens |
Ultimo Press |
|
Claire G Coleman |
Enclave |
Hachette Australia |
|
George Haddad |
Losing Face |
University of Queensland Press |
|
Pirooz Jafari |
Forty Nights |
Ultimo Press |
|
Julie Janson |
Madukka: The River Serpent |
UWA Publishing |
|
Yumna Kassab |
The Lovers |
Ultimo Press |
|
Fiona Kelly McGregor |
Iris |
Pan Macmillan Australia |
|
Adam Ouston |
Waypoints |
Puncher & Wattmann |
According to the judging panel, “The 2023 longlist is a reflection of the breadth and depth of contemporary Australian story-telling. The eleven longlisted novels define Australian literature as a transformative space where writers are singing the songs of the nation today. They reverberate with the cadences of this land where Indigenous sovereignty was never ceded, but also bring to us mellifluous sounds from far-away lands, weaving together literary traditions from around the world. The words of our novelists, grounded in personal experience, poetry and philosophy, are heralds of the new dawn of Australian fiction: they hum and hiss with language that is newly potent and styles that are imaginative and fresh.”
The 2023 judges are Richard Neville, Mitchell Librarian of the State Library of NSW and Chair; author and literary critic, Dr Bernadette Brennan; literary scholar and translator, Dr Mridula Nath Chakraborty; book critic, Dr James Ley; and author and editor, Dr Elfie Shiosaki.
Last year, the Miles Franklin Literary Award was awarded to Jennifer Down for her novel, Bodies of Light (2022).
The shortlisted finalists will be revealed on 20 June 2023 and the winner announced on 25 July 2023.