"Books are cool.
They take you away to awesome places."
Clancy Tucker
Comment of the day:
Mm ... winners of the Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards were announced on the 23rd of July in the National Library in Canberra. Well done to the winners. The awards attracted the highest number of entries since its inception, and entries were received from every state and territory; including books, e-books, websites, documentaries and audiovisual material.
I especially clap the winner of the inaugural poetry award. Why, because I have fought hard to have a poetry award included in the PM's Awards. Yep, poetry was not considered cool until 2012. Amazing, eh? Yet, Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson is on our ten-dollar note and he is the author of Waltzing Matilda - a famous Australian author and poet. Sad indeed.
I am still fighting hard with the Prime Minister's Department to overturn their antiquated rules. Sadly, self-published authors cannot enter our Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Nor can they enter the Victorian Premier's Awards. Amazing, eh? It is 2012, isn't it?
Here are the winners: well done and congratulations to you all.
Fiction – Foal’s Bread by Gillian Mears
Poetry – Interferon Psalms by Luke Davies
Non-fiction – An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark by Mark McKenna
Prize for Australian History – The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia by Bill Gammage
Young adult fiction – When We Were Two by Robert Newton
Children’s fiction – Goodnight, Mice! By Frances Watts, illustrated by Judy Watson
Personal comment:
Here are a few statements made by Arts Minister, Simon Crean, at the National Library - an obvious politician, not self-published author.
1. "The enthusiastic response in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards shows that we are in a golden age of Australian writing." Golden what, I ask?
2. "These Awards provide important recognition of the depth of serious pursuit in literature, historical research, prose and verse and celebrate the pre-eminent literary talent we have here in Australia." Unless you are self-published!
Final comment:
All you readers, teachers, librarians, parents, uncles, aunties and grandparents are not permitted to see the full list of books that are available in this country. Nope, you're only allowed to read those books that are published by mainstream publishers. Self-published authors are the great unwashed and considered to be a threat. So, next time you choose a book for your class, your child, niece, nephew or grandchild, ask yourself one question: is this the best on offer?
Answer: NO!
*** Olympic Games***
Mm ... is there a connection between the abovementioned subject and the Olympic Games? I guess there is. It's all about fair competition and a level playing field - NOT!
Best wishes to all competitors in the London Olympics. I've always likened writing to an Olympian. A writer works for years to perfect a novel, only to have it rejected by publishers. The same applies for Olympians who train hard for four years, hoping they will stand on the dais and hear their national anthem. But, if they break down days before their race or event, they then have to step back, take a deep breath and train for another four years for the next Olympics - an eight-year wait to win a medal. That takes passion, hard work and stamina.
*** Go Olympians ***
Keep writing!
Don't be shy ... email me: clancy_tucker@hotmail.com
Thanks for listening.
I'm Clancy Tucker.
No comments:
Post a Comment