❓ Mr. Miles asks about the Premier's Book Awards. The Minister for Culture and the Arts provides details on the event, winners, and the importance of WA's literary tradition, highlighting Fiona Skyring's win and Tim Winton's induction.
AnsweredQoN 515Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PREMIER'S
BOOK AWARDS
515. Mr P.T. MILES to the Minister for Culture and the Arts:
I understand that the —
Mr F.M. Logan interjected.
The SPEAKER : I
know who this bloke is, member for Cockburn; at this point I am going to
formally call you to order for the first time today.
Mr F.M. Logan :
Thank you, Mr Speaker. It was the member for —
The SPEAKER : If
you wish to ask that question of other members, I suggest you say it more
quietly.
Mr P.T. MILES : I
will start again.
Minister, I understand that the
Premier's Book Awards were held earlier this week. Could the minister
please update the house on the authors who won awards and the history of former
winners?
BOOK AWARDS
515. Mr P.T. MILES to the Minister for Culture and the Arts:
I understand that the —
Mr F.M. Logan interjected.
The SPEAKER : I
know who this bloke is, member for Cockburn; at this point I am going to
formally call you to order for the first time today.
Mr F.M. Logan :
Thank you, Mr Speaker. It was the member for —
The SPEAKER : If
you wish to ask that question of other members, I suggest you say it more
quietly.
Mr P.T. MILES : I
will start again.
Minister, I understand that the
Premier's Book Awards were held earlier this week. Could the minister
please update the house on the authors who won awards and the history of former
winners?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question,
and I am certainly very happy to do that.
Western Australia has a strong literary tradition and writing
community, and those writers, both now and in the past, have been very
important in influencing how we see and think of ourselves as Western
Australians and Australians, and also, importantly, how the world sees us.
Western Australia seems to have produced some very significant writers,
including Dame Mary Durack, Katherine Susannah Pritchard, Randolph Stow,
Elizabeth Jolley, Sally Morgan, Albert Facey, and, more recently, Tim Winton.
The Premier's Book Awards were held on Monday night,
and the Premier attended and recognised the current generation of Australian
and Western Australian writers.
Several members interjected.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : In
the past I have acknowledged the fact that the member for Armadale did win the
Premier's Book Awards—I think that was the case back in 2008—and
that is a significant achievement for him.
It was very pleasing that the
Premier was there on Monday night and gave due recognition to the Western
Australian writing community. This year the awards comprised 10 categories, and
the total prize money was $120 000, provided by the government on behalf of the
public of Western Australia of course. The awards were for books published last
year and judged in 2012, and there were 596 entries from all over Australia.
Twenty-two publishers were represented, including six from Western Australia,
and 14 Western Australian–born authors were in the short lists of the
various categories. It was very pleasing that a Western Australian publication
won the overall prize, with the Premier announcing Fiona Skyring as the winner
of the 2011 Premier's Prize for Justice:
A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia . As the
Premier noted, this work makes a significant contribution to understanding the
changes in criminal justice and policing, and to attitudes about racial
discrimination and land rights that have occurred in recent years in Western
Australia. According to the judges, the work was an ''elegantly written,
painstakingly researched and profoundly relevant publication'', and is a
''must-read'' for all Western Australians. It was also pleasing
to see the very well-known Western Australian author Tim Winton inducted into
the State Library of Western Australia's Hall of Fame of notable and
prolific WA writers. Tim Winton is, of course, well known locally, nationally
and internationally, and is one of Australia's most esteemed writers
for both adults and children. Tim Winton and Ellen Fontana also won the Premier's
Book Awards category for scripts for Cloudstreet:
The Screenplay , published by Penguin Group (Australia).
I congratulate all winners,
including those I have not so far mentioned: Alice Pung, in the category of
non-fiction; Anna Funder in fiction; Michelle Gillespie and Sonia Martinez for
children's books; Tracy Ryan for poetry; Penni Russon for young adult
literature; and Max Barry for the digital narrative award.
and I am certainly very happy to do that.
Western Australia has a strong literary tradition and writing
community, and those writers, both now and in the past, have been very
important in influencing how we see and think of ourselves as Western
Australians and Australians, and also, importantly, how the world sees us.
Western Australia seems to have produced some very significant writers,
including Dame Mary Durack, Katherine Susannah Pritchard, Randolph Stow,
Elizabeth Jolley, Sally Morgan, Albert Facey, and, more recently, Tim Winton.
The Premier's Book Awards were held on Monday night,
and the Premier attended and recognised the current generation of Australian
and Western Australian writers.
Several members interjected.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : In
the past I have acknowledged the fact that the member for Armadale did win the
Premier's Book Awards—I think that was the case back in 2008—and
that is a significant achievement for him.
It was very pleasing that the
Premier was there on Monday night and gave due recognition to the Western
Australian writing community. This year the awards comprised 10 categories, and
the total prize money was $120 000, provided by the government on behalf of the
public of Western Australia of course. The awards were for books published last
year and judged in 2012, and there were 596 entries from all over Australia.
Twenty-two publishers were represented, including six from Western Australia,
and 14 Western Australian–born authors were in the short lists of the
various categories. It was very pleasing that a Western Australian publication
won the overall prize, with the Premier announcing Fiona Skyring as the winner
of the 2011 Premier's Prize for Justice:
A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia . As the
Premier noted, this work makes a significant contribution to understanding the
changes in criminal justice and policing, and to attitudes about racial
discrimination and land rights that have occurred in recent years in Western
Australia. According to the judges, the work was an ''elegantly written,
painstakingly researched and profoundly relevant publication'', and is a
''must-read'' for all Western Australians. It was also pleasing
to see the very well-known Western Australian author Tim Winton inducted into
the State Library of Western Australia's Hall of Fame of notable and
prolific WA writers. Tim Winton is, of course, well known locally, nationally
and internationally, and is one of Australia's most esteemed writers
for both adults and children. Tim Winton and Ellen Fontana also won the Premier's
Book Awards category for scripts for Cloudstreet:
The Screenplay , published by Penguin Group (Australia).
I congratulate all winners,
including those I have not so far mentioned: Alice Pung, in the category of
non-fiction; Anna Funder in fiction; Michelle Gillespie and Sonia Martinez for
children's books; Tracy Ryan for poetry; Penni Russon for young adult
literature; and Max Barry for the digital narrative award.
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