Giramondo Publishing continues its prize run

The Giramondo publishing house at the University of Western Sydney has continued its impressive run towards Australia’s top literary prizes, picking up a number of new nominations in some of the country’s most prestigious awards.

UWS Doctor of Creative Arts candidate and author of The Incredible Here and Now, Felicity Castagna, has been shortlisted for the nation’s most prestigious children's books prize, the Children's Book Council of Australia Award. Her book has also been shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.

The Incredible Here and Now

The Swan Book continues to impress judges, and joins The Incredible Here and Now in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Written by Alexis Wright, a Distinguished Fellow at the UWS Writing and Society Research Centre, the novel is set in a future dominated by climate change and the continued surveillance of Aboriginals in the north of the country.

The Swan Book

Also nominated for the Premier’s Awards is Kate Middleton for Ephemeral Waters, a book-length polyphonic poem that embodies an Australian preoccupation with water by taking the over-taxed Colorado as a prophetic example of a river system in crisis.

Ephemeral Waters cover

The nominations for the Premier’s awards come after two Giramondo books were shortlisted for one of the country’s oldest literary awards, the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. In contention are UWS Doctoral Candidate Luke Carman for his debut novel An Elegant Young Man, a collection of monologues and stories set in Western Sydney, and Ms Wright for The Swan Book.

An Elegant Young Man

Publisher Ivor Indyk, from the UWS School of Humanities and Communication Arts, says it is wonderful to see the Centre’s writers rewarded in this way.

“We knew that there was something distinctive and appealing about these books and it is reassuring to have that recognised by the award judges,” he says.

The Writing and Society Research Centre Book Production Coordinator, Alice Grundy, says it’s a pleasure to have worked with these talented writers on their books and in the Centre.

“Their work in each case is innovative, and explores the possibilities of Australian literature and contemporary literature more broadly,” she says.

Giramondo Publishing is an independent publisher based at the University of Western Sydney. Established in December 1995 with the aim of publishing quality creative and interpretive writing by Australian authors. Giramondo Publishing is renowned for the quality of its writing, editing and book design, and encourages innovative and adventurous work.

Ends

14 April 2014

Contact: Mark Smith, Senior Media Officer

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