If there is still a lingering feeling that women are overlooked in literary prizes, the shortlists for next year's Victorian Premier's Literary Awards should banish it once and for all. Of the 21 books in contention for the five $25,000 categories, all but five are written by female authors.
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And one author, Maxine Beneba Clarke, is listed for two awards – non-fiction for her memoir, The Hate Race, and poetry for Carrying the World.
"I've already had some champagne," she said. "It is a bit of a shock but I'm particularly thrilled about the poetry as that's been my medium for a decade and it's good to finally get there. To win anything would be life-changing."
Clarke, who also recently published an illustrated children's book, The Patchwork Bike, said she was very pleased that the poetry shortlist, which also included Eileen Chong (Painting Red Orchids) and Tina Giannoukos (Bull Days), was so diverse.
The winners of the awards – fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry and writing for young adults – will automatically be considered for the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature. For the first time, the winner of the VPLA for an unpublished manuscript and the winner of the biennial award for Indigenous writing – Melanie Cheng (Australia Day) and Tony Birch (Ghost River) respectively – will also be considered for the big one.
Full shortlists: wheelercentre.com