Gleeson-White wins 2012 Waverley Library Award for Literature

29 November 2012 Books+Publishing

Jane Gleeson-White has won this year’s Waverley Library Award for Literature for her book Double Entry (A&U).

Gleeson-White was presented with the $20,000 award, known as ‘the Nib’, at an event in Sydney on 28 November. Her book was chosen from a shortlist of six titles, which also included: The People Smuggler (Robin de Crespigny, Viking), Sarah Thornhill (Kate Grenville, Text), Kinglake-350 (Adrian Hyland, Text), A Tragedy in Two Acts (Fiona Harari, Victory) and Housewife Superstar (Danielle Wood, Text).

Speaking at the awards presentation, Waverley Council mayor Sally Betts said Gleeson-White is ‘a credit to Australian literature as Double Entry is a fascinating and riveting exploration of the world of bookkeeping and the impact of double-entry on today’s society’. ‘Jane has managed to turn bookkeeping into an incredibly exciting and thought-provoking subject matter,’ said Betts.

Double Entry has been shortlisted for a number of awards this year, including the nonfiction book award in the 2012 Queensland Literary Awards and the nonfiction category of this year’s Age Book of the Year Awards.

The Waverley Library Award for Literature was established in 2002 to recognise the role of research in Australian fiction and nonfiction, as well as literary merit, readability and value to the community. This year’s award was sponsored by Waverley Council and supported by Friends of Waverley Library, Gertrude & Alice Bookshop and Cafe, and Dymocks Bondi Junction.

In 2011, the award was presented to Delia Falconer for Sydney (NewSouth).

Category: Local news