May 01, 2007

Former RMIT writer on Miles Franklin shortlist

Novelist and former RMIT Masters candidate, Alexis Wright, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Miles Franklin Award for her second novel, Carpentaria.

Ms Wright, from Eltham, Victoria, is a member of the Waanyi nation of the southern highlands of The Gulf of Carpentaria.

One of Australia’s finest Aboriginal writers, her published works include the non-fiction Grog War, a study of alcohol abuse in the outback town of Tennant Creek, the multi-award winning novel Plains of Promise, the short story Take Power, which won the 1994 NT Literary Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Writers, and several other short stories.

Carpentaria is an epic story set in The Gulf country of north-western Queensland, which portrays life in the precariously-settled coastal town of Desperance. It centres on the powerful Phantom family whose members are the leaders of the Pricklebush people, telling of their battles with the tearaway Eastend mob, the white officials of Uptown and the neighbouring Gurfurrit mine.

The Miles Franklin Literary Award, offering a $42,000 purse prize, celebrates Australian character and creativity and is awarded to the writer whose novel demonstrates the highest literary merit.

The annual award was established in 1954 with a bequest from author Miles Franklin, who knew first-hand of the struggles of Australian authors.

It is Australia’s first literary award and is considered one of the country’s most prestigious literary accolades.

“It’s a great honour and privilege to be shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award,” Ms Wright said.

“You don’t write for prizes so when something like this happens you get a real buzz and it’s a real affirmation that your novel might be hitting the mark somewhere.”

Ms Wright said she was surprised at her nomination because it was a difficult novel to write and get published.

“I experimented with a number of things so it was difficult to get a publisher to take it up. The story is told by an old indigenous leader, which is a voice that Australia has previously refused to listen to or take up,” she said.

Ms Wright conducted her Master of Arts in Creative Writing under the tutelage of RMIT’s Antoni Jach.

“Alexis is a lovely person, a highly talented writer and a brilliant student. I'm sure she taught us more than we taught her,” Mr Jach said.

“Carpentaria is a major Australian novel. It has a neo-baroque grandeur and a tragicomic spirit. I think it will win the Miles Franklin. I'm hoping it will find its way into the hearts of hundreds of thousands of readers. It's a major publishing achievement for Giramondo.”

According to Ms Wright, Mr Jach is one of the finest literary teachers in the country.

“It was a great opportunity to have been taught by Antoni. One of the things he impressed on us right from the beginning was to explore across boundaries and that has always stayed with me.

“He showed us how to be a commercial writer or how to write high art and explore other possibilities.

“I owe a great deal to that kind of teaching and to RMIT which really suits a person like me,” Ms Wright said.

In addition to her literary efforts, Ms Wright has worked extensively in government departments and Aboriginal agencies throughout Australia, as a professional manager, educator, researcher and writer.

She appears regularly as a speaker in London, Paris and Barcelona.

A UK and French edition of Carpentaria will be published in 2008.

Fifty-five books were submitted for this year’s award with a shortlist of four announced on 19 April. Ms Wright’s fellow nominees are Deborah Robertson for Careless, Gail Jones for Dreams of Speaking, and three-time award recipient Peter Carey for Theft: A Love Story.

The Age newspaper recently tipped Ms Wright as a strong contender to challenge Mr Carey’s claim to a fourth award.

Other past winners include Patrick White, the first recipient in 1957, Thea Astley, Thomas Keneally, Elizabeth Jolley, Tim Winton, and Shirley Hazzard.

This year’s winner will be announced at the NSW State Library on 21 June.

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