Miles Franklin Award

The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases".^[1] The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1954), who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career (published in 1901) and for bequeathing her estate to fund this award.^[2] As of 2013, the award is valued A$60,000.^[3]

Winners

Shortlisted Works

Shortlisted titles are only shown for the years 1987 onwards. No record has yet been found for any shortlists being released prior to that year. Winners are listed in bold type.

2015^[7]

• Golden Boys, Sonya Hartnett
• The Eye of the Sheep, Sofie Laguna
• The Golden Age, Joan London
• After Darkness, Christine Piper
• Tree Palace, Craig Sherborne

2014^[8]

• The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan
• The Night Guest, Fiona McFarlane
• My Beautiful Enemy, Cory Taylor
• Eyrie, Tim Winton
• The Swan Book, Alexis Wright
• All the Birds, Singing, Evie Wyld

2013^[9]

• Floundering, Romy Ash
• Questions of Travel, Michelle de Kretser
• The Beloved, Annah Faulkner
• The Mountain, Drusilla Modjeska
• Mateship with Birds, Carrie Tiffany

2012^[10]

• Blood, Tony Birch
• All That I Am, Anna Funder
• Foal's Bread, Gillian Mears
• Cold Light, Frank Moorhouse
• Past the Shallows, Favel Parrett

2011^[11]

• Bereft, Chris Womersley
• That Deadman Dance, Kim Scott
• When Colts Ran, Roger McDonald

2010^[12]

• Lovesong, Alex Miller
• The Bath Fugues, Brian Castro
• Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey
• The Book of Emmett, Deborah Forster
• Truth, Peter Temple
• Butterfly, Sonya Hartnett

2009^[13][14]

• The Pages, Murray Bail
• Wanting, Richard Flanagan
• Ice, Louis Nowra
• The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas
• Breath, Tim Winton

2008^[15]

• The Fern Tattoo, David Brooks
• The Time We Have Taken, Steven Carroll
• Love Without Hope, Rodney Hall
• Sorry, Gail Jones
• Landscape of Farewell, Alex Miller

2007^[16]

• Theft: A Love Story, Peter Carey
• Dreams of Speaking, Gail Jones
• Careless, Deborah Robertson
• Carpentaria, Alexis Wright

2006^[17]

• The Garden Book, Brian Castro
• The Secret River, Kate Grenville
• The Ballad of Desmond Kale, Roger McDonald
• Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, Carrie Tiffany
• The Wing of Night, Brenda Walker

2005^[18]

• Salt Rain, Sarah Armstrong
• The Gift of Speed, Steven Carroll
• Sixty Lights, Gail Jones
• The White Earth, Andrew McGahan
• The Submerged Cathedral, Charlotte Wood

2004^[19]

• My Life as a Fake, Peter Carey
• Elizabeth Costello, J.M. Coetzee
• Three Dog Night, Peter Goldsworthy
• The Great Fire, Shirley Hazzard
• Slow Water, Annamarie Jagose
• Seven Types of Ambiguity, Elliot Perlman

2003

• The Prosperous Thief, Andrea Goldsmith
• Of a Boy, Sonya Hartnett
• Moral Hazard, Kate Jennings
• An Angel in Australia, Tom Keneally
• Journey to the Stone Country, Alex Miller
• Wild Surmise, Dorothy Porter

2002

• The Art of the Engine Driver, Steven Carroll
• Gould's Book of Fish, Richard Flanagan
• Gilgamesh, Joan London
• The Architect, John Scott
• Dirt Music, Tim Winton

2001

• True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey
• The Company, Arabella Edge
• The Day We Had Hitler Home, Rodney Hall
• English Passengers, Matthew Kneale
• Conditions of Faith, Alex Miller
• Dark Palace, Frank Moorhouse
• Life after George, Hannie Rayson

Note: Matthew Kneale's novel is the first by a non-Australian to be shortlisted for the award. Hannie Rayson's, Life after George, is the first play to be shortlisted.

2000

• Drylands, Thea Astley
• Too Many Men, Lily Brett
• What a Piece of Work, Dorothy Porter
• Benang, Kim Scott
• Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop, Amy Witting

Note: Dorothy Porter's What a Piece of Work is the first verse novel to be shortlisted.

1999

• Eucalyptus, Murray Bail
• Red Shoes, Carmel Bird
• The Golden Dress, Marion Halligan
• Mr Darwin's Shooter, Roger McDonald
• Three Dollars, Elliot Perlman

1998

• Wrack, James Bradley
• Jack Maggs, Peter Carey
• The Service of Clouds, Delia Falconer
• The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Richard Flanagan
• One for the Master, Dorothy Johnston
• Lovesong, Elizabeth Jolley
• Nightpictures, Rod Jones

1997

• The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow, Thea Astley
• Night Letters, Robert Dessaix
• The Drowner, Robert Drewe
• The Glade within the Grove, David Foster
• Oyster, Janette Turner Hospital
• The Conversations at Curlow Creek, David Malouf
• Before I Wake, John Scott

1996

• The White Garden, Carmel Bird
• The House in the Light, Beverley Farmer
• Bracelet Honeymyrtle, Judith Fox
• The Touchstone, Paul Horsfall
• Highways to a War, Christopher Koch
• Camille's Bread, Amanda Lohrey
• The Sitters, Alex Miller

1995

• The Hand That Signed the Paper, Helen Demidenko
• Death of a River Guide, Richard Flanagan
• Dark Places, Kate Grenville
• A Mortality Tale, Jay Verney

1994

• The Grisly Wife, Rodney Hall
• Remembering Babylon, David Malouf
• Water Man, Roger McDonald

1993

• Vanishing Points, Thea Astley
• After China, Brian Castro
• Cosmo Cosmolino, Helen Garner
• The Last Magician, Janette Turner Hospital
• Shearers' Motel, Roger McDonald
• The Ancestor Game, Alex Miller

1992

• Double-Wolf, Brian Castro
• Our Sunshine, Robert Drewe
• To the Burning City, Alan Gould
• The Second Bridegroom, Rodney Hall
• Cloudstreet, Tim Winton

1991

• Longleg, Glenda Adams
• Taking Shelter, Jessica Anderson
• Reaching Tin River, Thea Astley
• The Bluebird Café, Carmel Bird
• The Country Without Music, Nicholas Hasluck
• The Great World, David Malouf

1990

• Company of Images, Janine Burke
• Oceana Fine, Tom Flood
• Maestro, Peter Goldsworthy
• Avenue of Eternal Peace, Nicholas Jose
• Smyrna, Tony Maniaty
• I for Isobel, Amy Witting

1989

• Oscar and Lucinda, Peter Carey
• Captivity Captive, Rodney Hall
• Out of the Line of Fire, Mark Henshaw
• Building on Sand, David Parker
• Charades, Janette Turner Hospital

1988 Note: Date changed from year of publication to year of announcement, so no award was made in this year.

1987

• Dancing on Coral, Glenda Adams
• Holden's Performance, Murray Bail
• Truant State, Nicholas Hasluck
• Bloodfather, David Ireland
• Home Is the Sailor, Nancy Phelan

Longlisted works

Longlisted titles are only shown for the years 2005 onwards. That was the first year that such a list was released by the judging panel. The number of works included on the longlist varies from year to year.

2015^[20]

• In Certain Circles, Elizabeth Harrower
• Golden Boys, Sonya Hartnett
• The Eye of the Sheep, Sofie Laguna
• The Golden Age, Joan London
• The Lost Child, Suzanne McCourt
• Here Come the Dogs, Omar Musa
• When the Night Comes, Favel Parrett
• After Darkness, Christine Piper
• Tree Palace, Craig Sherborne
• Nest, Inga Simpson

2014^[21]

• The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt, Tracy Farr
• The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan
• The Railwayman's Wife, Ashley Hay
• Mullumbimby, Melissa Lucashenko
• The Night Guest, Fiona McFarlane
• Belomore, Nicholas Rothwell
• Game, Trevor Shearston
• My Beautiful Enemy, Cory Taylor
• Eyrie, Tim Winton
• The Swan Book, Alexis Wright
• All the Birds, Singing, Evie Wyld

2013^[22]

• Floundering, Romy Ash
• Lola Bensky, Lily Brett
• Street to Street, Brian Castro
• Questions of Travel, Michelle de Kretser
• The Beloved, Annah Faulkner
• The Daughters of Mars, Thomas Keneally
• The Mountain, Drusilla Modjeska
• The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman
• Mateship with Birds, Carrie Tiffany
• Red Dirt Talking, Jacqueline Wright

2012^[23]

• Blood, Tony Birch
• The Spirit of Progress, Steven Carroll
• Spirit House, Mark Dapin
• The Precipice, Virginia Duigan
• All That I Am, Anna Funder
• Sarah Thornhill, Kate Grenville
• Five Bells, Gail Jones
• Foal's Bread, Gillian Mears
• Autumn Laing, Alex Miller
• Cold Light, Frank Moorhouse
• Past The Shallows, Favel Parrett
• The Street Sweeper, Elliot Perlman
• Animal People, Charlotte Wood

2011^[24]

• Rocks in the Belly, John Bauer
• The Good Daughter, Honey Brown
• The Mary Smokes Boys, Patrick Holland
• The Piper's Son, Melina Marchetta
• When Colts Ran, Roger McDonald
• Time's Long Ruin, Stephen Orr
• That Deadman Dance, Kim Scott
• The Legacy, Kirsten Tranter
• Bereft, Chris Womersley

2010^[25]

• Figurehead, Patrick Allington
• Parrot and Olivier in America, Peter Carey
• The Bath Fugues, Brian Castro
• Boy on a Wire, Jon Doust
• The Book of Emmett, Deborah Forster
• Sons of the Rumour, David Foster
• Siddon Rock, Glenda Guest
• Butterfly, Sonya Hartnett
• The People's Train, Thomas Keneally
• Lovesong, Alex Miller
• Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey
• Truth, Peter Temple

2009^[26]

• The Pages, Murray Bail
• Wanting, Richard Flanagan
• Addition, Toni Jordan
• One Foot Wrong, Sofie Laguna
• Ice, Louis Nowra
• Fugitive Blue, Claire Thomas
• A Fraction of the Whole, Steve Toltz
• The Devil's Eye, Ian Townsend
• The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas
• Breath, Tim Winton

2008^[27]

• The Fern Tattoo, David Brooks
• The Time We Have Taken, Steven Carroll
• Love Without Hope, Rodney Hall
• Orpheus Lost, Janette Turner Hospital
• Sorry, Gail Jones
• The Widow and Her Hero, Tom Keneally
• The Memory Room, Christopher Koch
• Landscape of Farewell, Alex Miller
• Secrets of the Sea, Nicholas Shakespeare

2007^[28]

• Theft: A Love Story, Peter Carey
• Silent Parts, John Charalambous
• The Unknown Terrorist, Richard Flanagan
• Beyond the Break, Sandra Hall
• Dreams of Speaking, Gail Jones
• The Unexpected Elements of Love, Kate Legge
• Careless, Deborah Robertson
• Carpentaria, Alexis Wright

2006^[29]

• Knitting, Anne Bartlett
• The Garden Book, Brian Castro
• The Secret River, Kate Grenville
• An Accidental Tourist, Stephen Lang
• The Ballad of Desmond Kale, Roger McDonald
• Prochownik's Dream, Alex Miller
• Sunnyside, Joanna Murray-Smith
• A Case of Knives, Peter Rose
• The Broken Shore, Peter Temple
• Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, Carrie Tiffany
• Dead Europe, Christos Tsiolkas
• The Wing of Night, Brenda Walker

2005

• Salt Rain, Sarah Armstrong
• The Gift of Speed, Steven Carroll
• Backwaters, Robert Engwarda
• The Ghost Writer, John Harwood
• The Broken Book, Susan Johnson
• Sixty Lights, Gail Jones
• A Private Man, Malcolm Knox
• The Philosopher's Doll, Amanda Lohrey
• The White Earth, Andrew McGahan
• I Have Kissed Your Lips, Gerard Windsor
• The Submerged Cathedral, Charlotte Wood
• The Last Ride, Denise Young

See also

• Australian History Awards
• Australian literature
• The Commonwealth Writers Prize
• List of Australian literary awards
• List of literary awards
• National Biography Award
• New South Wales Premier's History Awards
• Prime Minister's Literary Awards

References

Further reading

• Free, David (December 2009). "What's wrong with Australian fiction? A sceptical look at the Miles Franklin shortlist". Quadrant 53 (12): 22–29. Retrieved 8 August 2011. 
• Allington, Patrick (June 2011). "'What is Australia, anyway?' The glorious limitations of the Miles Franklin Literary Award". Australian Book Review (333): 23–34. Retrieved 4 September 2013. 

External links

• Miles Franklin Award, official website.