Author awarded Australia’s most prestigious literary prize for novel Truth.
Peter Temple has been awarded the highly acclaimed Miles Franklin Literary Award for 2010. The announcement was made at an award dinner in Sydney this evening, where the author was presented with this year’s prize for his novel Truth.
Recognised as Australia’s most prestigious prize, and won first by Patrick White in 1957, the Miles Franklin Literary Award is presented to the novel of the year which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases, as per the wishes of Miles Franklin herself.
The Trust Company, trustee of the Miles Franklin Literary Fund, joined the judges in congratulating the winner at this evening’s event, which was attended by authors, publishers, booksellers, literary associations, academics, sponsors, supporters and family of Miles Franklin.
‘Peter Temple’s Truth is writing tempered by fire’, said Morag Fraser AM, spokesperson for the Miles Franklin Literary Award judges. ‘The novel fuses the exhilaration and tension of a complex crime narrative with lives broken, patched and tested against the background of Victoria’s apocalyptic bushfires. In Inspector Stephen Villani, Temple has created an indelible Australian character.’
Temple’s winning novel is the much anticipated sequel to The Broken Shore and comprehends murder, corruption, family, friends, honour, honesty, deceit, love, betrayal – and truth. A stunning story about contemporary Australian life, Truth is written with great moral sophistication. It takes a popular genre and transforms it into a taut literary experiment in realism and fiction.
Truth was one of six novels on this year’s Award shortlist, which featured Deborah Forster for her debut novel The Book of Emmett, Sonya Hartnett for Butterfly, Alex Miller for Lovesong, Brian Castro for The Bath Fugues and 27-year-old Craig Silvey for Jasper Jones.
‘It was a controversial and challenging shortlist, accomplished and diverse in ways that made the judges’ task extremely difficult’, said Ms Fraser. ‘Each novel offered a quite distinct and compelling fictional journey.’
Set up as a charitable trust in 1954 by a bequest of author Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, the annual award is made to authors for the advancement of Australian literature, to improve the educational style of authors, and to improve their literary efforts and work. Peter Temple was awarded a cheque for $42,000 and the honour of receiving Australia’s most celebrated literary prize and joining the company of Australia’s finest writers.
The judging panel for the 2010 award included Richard Neville, State Library of New South Wales Mitchell Librarian, Lesley McKay, Professor Gillian Whitlock, Murray Waldren and Morag Fraser AM.
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