spread that literary love

[adelaidesean]

Our handsome new Prime Minister has just created two awards for literature, one for fiction and one for non-fiction. They will be the third most lucrative in the world (after the International IMPAC Dublin Literary award (£100,000) and the Man Booker (£50,000)), coming in tax-free at AU$100,000 each.

Sounds good? Maybe, maybe not.

Here's an oped I wrote for ABC Online. All comments welcome, but I encourage you to post your opinions on the ABC where they'll be more visible.

(With thanks to Gary Kemble for guiding this little rant into existence, to Cristen Tilley for the title, to Jeremy Fisher of the ASA, Barbara Wiesner of the SA Writers' Centre, and Sue Hill and Fiona Lange of The Big Book Club for double-checking my facts, and to Garth Nix, Chris Lawson, Stephen Dedman and Deb Biancotti for letting me steal their best ideas.)

Comments

[accy.livejournal.com]

Maybe you, or someone else, should turn that article into a community budget submission (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22868416-12377,00.html).

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

That's a good thought. I don't have time to do it, but I'd be happy to bend the ear of someone who does. :-)