A State of Writing community

The Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards recognise Australia’s most exceptional literary talent, both well known and aspiring.

The winners of the 2011 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced:  http://www.premiers.qld.gov.au/awards-and-recognition/literary-awards/2011-winners.aspx

A provocative novel about love and death and the narrow line between them.

Over one weekend in a small Tasmanian town, a transsexual mortician prepares three bodies for burial at a funeral home. As she carefully works on the Kremmer son, the Esterhazen girl and Mr Phillips, she reflects on her own unusual life and childhood – her father’s obsession with taxidermy and other darker pursuits, her own induction into the arts of taxidermy, the death of her parents and her ultimate transformation from man to woman.

Her sex change was a tentative step towards finding somebody to love her, and choosing a man came next. But when her plans to be with her chosen one are interrupted, she discovers just how far she will go to keep the hope of love alive.

In a corrupt world where appearance is everything, what makes us open our hearts to others?

Steve Holden’s haunting debut novel reminds us that the search for love requires courage, no matter whose skin you inhabit.

By Paula Grunseit

‘Literacy is like breathing; that’s how important it is,’ community leader and NCIE Director Sol Bellear said as he spoke at Friday’s Book Week event which highlighted the value of books, reading and education.

According to figures published by the National Year of Reading 2012 initiative: ‘There are 46 per cent of Australians who can’t read newspapers, follow a recipe, make sense of timetables, or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.’ National Literacy and Numeracy Week and Indigenous Literacy Day are other upcoming initiatives aimed at changing these alarming statistics.

The event, which brought together 400 school children from the Waterloo/Redfern and Alexandria areas under the banner ‘Connecting Communities’, was organised by Sarah Garnett and her team at The Benjamin Andrew Footpath Library and Capt. Stefan King, Commanding Officer of the HMAS Albatross, Nowra.

The Footpath Library delivers books to homeless and disadvantaged people living in hostels and on the streets.

Dr Naomi Mayers, CEO of the Aboriginal Medical Service said: ‘Education is one of the top priorities in our community and our children are eager to learn. They just need a chance and free access to books is a great help.’

When King met Garnett earlier this year, he offered to run a book drive with the HMAS Albatross community. Over 3000 books were donated to The Footpath Library during National Homeless Persons’ Week. ‘Everyone was very excited to support this great initiative,’ King said.

‘Because National Homeless Persons’ Week and Book Week both fall within August, it was decided to hold an event that would focus on encouraging literacy and making books accessible to everyone,’ said Garnett. Guests included NCIE Director Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, community leaders, and the Hon. Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Housing, Minister for the Status of Women.

Excitement was building for the main highlight of the day: the spectacular landing of a flash Augusta 109 helicopter from 723 Squadron, which some people may have seen at football Grand Finals delivering the trophy, right on NCIE Oval. Now that’s something you don’t see every day! As a special treat, children (and grown-ups) were allowed to inspect the chopper—a first for many.

Before the big moment, the QANTAS AFL Kickstart boys played football with the navy team and, after breakfast, a puppet show, and a welcome to country by Chicka Madden came a stageshow MC’d by the next host o Playschool, Luke Carroll.

National Break Dance champion B-Boy 2 Ezy had even the tiniest Harry Potter look-alike utterly spellbound with his amazing moves; artist/storyteller and didj player Adam Hill proved that if you know what you’re doing, you can play anything, including vacuum-cleaner tubes! Book parade stars were inspired by Angelina Ballerina, Frankenstein, and The Cat in the Hat.

Garnett said that the Book Week ‘Connecting Communities’ morning was a huge success. ‘The feedback from teachers, children, and the community has been overwhelmingly positive, and we have been asked if we can do it again next year! The look on the kids’ faces when they saw the helicopter overhead and the smiles when they were presented with their library bags made us all feel like we had achieved our goal—to give kids a morning they would not forget and to encourage them to read,’ she said.

Photos from top:

Commander King arrives

Kaiawa and Miriama Welsh and Warinda Treweek inspect the helicopter

Luke Carroll, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley (Director NCIE), Sol Bellear (Director NCIE), Tamara Bellear-Mayers (Director, The Footpath Library), Sarah Garnett (Founder/Director, The Footpath Library)

Photo credit: Banjo

This is an amended version of an article first published in the National Indigenous Times (2 September 2010).

Big River, Little Fish is the highly anticipated second novel from Brisbane-based author Belinda Jeffrey whose impressive debut novel, Brown Skin Blue, received overwhelming praise and recommendation from Australian reviewers when it was published in 2009, and has since been enjoyed by countless readers across the country.

As with Brown Skin Blue, Belinda Jeffrey captures the richness of the Australian landscape, its characters and its heritage in Big River, Little Fish.

Big River, Little Fish tells the story of 15 year-old Tom Downs, trapped between his way of reading the world and the world’s way of seeing him.  He lives in the town of Swan Reach with his foster parents, but is drawn every day to Old Mother Murray, on whose banks his mother died, while bringing him into the world.

It would have been sunset, the marbled limestone glowing orange in the last moments of light, and that’s the stage Lil wanted for Tom’s arrival; cockatoos screeching home to holes in the cliffs, the sounds of pelicans honking and diving for fish.  Tom bursting forth from Lil’s great inland sea to the river: Old Mother Murray slowing from the free-flowing current of day to her smooth mirror of fortune on dusk.

From the moment Tom was born backwards time has held him the wrong way round, like he’s caught inside a fractured story. He’s the odd boy with an inability to see words – and the world – the way others do unless his closest friend, Hannah, is by his side.   Instead, Tom seeks out the company of the recluses who live by the River – Murray Black, Bum-crack and Mrs Cath among them.

Tom wonders what it takes for a person to end up like that: feeling safer alone than with others.  Depending only on yourself come hell or high water.  Then again, perhaps he does understand.

There’s a big river coming and Tom feels like everything he loves and understands might be swept away and lost… But the thing about the Murray River rising, the thing about Tom’s town flooding, and the thing that takes him by surprise is not what Old Mother Murray takes away, but who she brings back.

Inspired by the many holidays she spent as a teenager at her father’s shack on the Murray River, Belinda Jeffrey captures for her readers a powerful sense of time and place, weaving layers of complex issues throughout.

Big River, Little Fish’s richly drawn characters and the story of their lives set during the Murray River flood of 1956 will resonate with readers long after the river peaks, and water levels subside.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Belinda Jeffrey lives in Brisbane with her husband and two boys.  Her short story ‘The Hallelujah Roof’ was published in One Book, Many Brisbanes 2007 and she had a poem published in Penguin’s What is Mother Love?  Brown Skin Blue was published in June, 2009.

Big River, Little Fish BACKGROUND

Belinda’s father’s shack is situated beside the Murray River at Big Bend, between the towns of Swan Reach and Nildottie.  Big Bend is famous for its spectacular stretch of limestone cliffs that are said to be the longest and tallest stretch anywhere along the Murray.  Not far from Big Bend is the historic Ngaut Ngaut Conservation Park, ancestral home of the Nganguraku people, and one of the most significant Aboriginal archaeological dig sites in Australia, showcasing vivid rock art and smoke stains.

Swan Reach, like all towns along the Murray River, was severely affected by the major flood in 1956.  Said to be the biggest flood of two centuries, it wiped out many of the smaller towns along the Riverland, depriving farmers of their livelihood and homes.  This flood is considered to be South Australia’s most severe natural disaster.  In 2006 a travelling exhibition commemorated the flood, culminating in the book, Where Were You When the Waters Broke?  Recollections of the 1956 Flood (Berry Barmera Council 2006).  These stories and experiences also inspired Big River, Little Fish.  

ACCOLADES FOR BROWN SKIN BLUE

‘From the very first subdued but loaded sentence, Jeffrey reels in her audience. The tone is bold, startling and brave … A powerful contribution to juvenile fiction.’ – Australian Book Review  2009

Every now and then something falls out of the sky and takes your breath away. This book is one of those things. Compelling and strikingly written, this story is as Australian in its beauty as it is at its unsettling heart. – West Australian 2009

‘Befitting the enormity of the story and its setting, the ending of Brown Skin Blue is intense … it gives a good mix of resolution, hope and the recognition of more challenges to come.’ – Sydney Morning Herald 2009

Jeffrey captures the searing honesty of children in this deeply moving book about finding inner strength in the face of great adversity. It should be read, and discussed, by every teenager. – Sunday Telegraph/Sunday Mail 2009

This thought-provoking debut will prompt much discussion in schools but is appealing enough for a youngster’s private read. – Courier Mail 2009

Crocodiles provide rich metaphors in Belinda Jeffrey’s impressive debut. – The Age 2009

Brown Skin Blue will echo in the mind long after the book is finished. – Buzzwords 2009

Treasure with a twist … don’t pass up the chance to read this excellent debut novel. – Gold Coast Bulletin 2009

A powerful, compelling and hard-hitting, yet engaging book. – Fiction Focus 2009



On the 31 August, Premier Anna Bligh applauded 14 outstanding Australian writers who won the top honours in the 2010 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, and shared a prize pool of $225,000.

J.M. Coetzee took out the top prize of $25,000 for his novel Summertime, the third instalment of fictionalised memoirs (the first two being Boyhood and Youth), which details the life of John Coetzee from the perspective of five people who have known him.

Emerging Queensland author Noel Mengel was awarded $20,000 and will be offered a publishing contract with the University of Queensland Press for his manuscript RPM, a fictional portrait of small-town life and its challenges.

Jeanine Leane took out the Unpublished Indigenous Writer – Arts Queensland David Unaipon Award and was awarded $15,000 for Purple Threads, a sad, hilarious and moving yarn of a house full of strong Aboriginal women.

Authors Mark Tredinnick, Sally Murphy, Richard Yaxley, Sonya Pemberton, Peter Boyle, Karen Hitchcock, Clive Hamilton, Ian Hoskins and script writers Shirley Barrett, Rick Viede and John Misto were also winners.

“I’m pleased that once again this year we have kept the judges hard at work with a strong number of entries and a consistently high standard of writing,” Premer Bligh said.

“The 14 winners were selected from 62 shortlisted entrants from an outstanding pool of nominations received from across Australia.

“The winning stories are an important reflection of our culture, our history and our Australian identity today, and my congratulations go to all of the shortlisted and winning entrants in this year’s awards.

“Each year the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards celebrate the established and aspiring Australian writers across a broad range of genres and help aspiring authors get onto our bookshelves, televisions and film screens.

“It is through these awards that we can find and nurture tomorrow’s literary stars.”

Visit www.literaryawards.qld.gov.au for synopses of all winning works or more information about the awards.

The winners were announced at a ceremony at the State Library of Queensland on the eve of the Brisbane Writers Festival. Visit www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au for information on the Brisbane Writers Festival.

2010 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards winners

Fiction Book Award

J.M. Coetzee for Summertime, Random House Australia

Emerging Queensland Author – Manuscript Award

Noel Mengel for RPM

Unpublished Indigenous Writer – Arts Queensland David Unaipon Award

Jeanine Leane for Purple Threads

Non-Fiction Book Award

Mark Tredinnick for The Blue Plateau: A Landscape Memoir, University of Queensland Press

History Book – Faculty of Arts, University of Queensland Award

Ian Hoskins for Sydney Harbour: A history, University of New South Wales Press

Children’s Book – Mary Ryan’s Award

Sally Murphy for Toppling, Walker Books Australia

Young Adult Book Award

Richard Yaxley for Drink the Air, Richard Yaxley

Science Writer Award

Sonya Pemberton for Catching Cancer, December Films and Pemberton Films

Poetry Collection – Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award

Peter Boyle for Apocrypha, Vagabond Press

Australian Short Story Collection – Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Award

Karen Hitchcock for Little White Slips, Picador

Literary or Media Work Advancing Public Debate – The Harry Williams Award

Clive Hamilton for Requiem for a Species: Why we resist the truth about climate change, Allen & Unwin

Film Script – Screen Queensland Award

Shirley Barrett for South Solitary, Macgowan Films Pty Ltd

Drama Script (Stage) Award

Rick Viede for Whore

Television Script – QUT Creative Industries Award

John Misto for Sisters of War, Australian Broadcasting Corporation/Pericles Film Productions Pty Ltd

For further information on this year’s winners, refer to http://www.premiers.qld.gov.au/awards-and-recognition/literary-awards/2010-winners.aspx

Children’s Book Week is the longest running children’s festival in Australia, celebrating its 65th birthday in 2010, between August 21 and 27.

Each year, many schools and public libraries from all over Australia spend a week celebrating books and Australian authors and illustrators. Classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians develop activities, offer competitions and tell stories relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading.

This year’s theme is… across the story bridge.  The Queensland branch of the CBCA is celebrating with a fully booked dinner for 100 guests at the Medina Hotel on Friday 20 August. 

There will also be a free storytelling event for children in the State Library’s “The Corner” on Sunday 29 August.  Children will be entertained with ‘bridge’ stories, (including The Three Billy Goats Gruff), told by the professional storytellers from Queensland Storytelling Guild at 10.30am and 12 noon.

Children’s Book Week also sees the announcement of the winners of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards – see http://cbca.org.au/awards.htm. This year the announcement will be made by the CBCA Patron Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, at Customs House in Brisbane on August 20.

For more information on membership of, or how you can become involved in the Queensland branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, visit our website http://qld.cbca.org.au or email us on qld@cbca.org.au.

Tina Cavanough | CBCA Qld Branch President