Wilson in the running for 2014 Australian of the Year Awards

21 October 2013 Books+Publishing

Riverbend Books owner and Indigenous Literacy Foundation founder Suzy Wilson has been selected as a finalist for the 2014 Australian of the Year Awards.

Wilson, who has been shortlisted in the Australia’s Local Hero category for Queensland, has been recognised for her work in Indigenous literacy, including organising the Riverbend Readers’ Challenge in 2004, which raised $25,000 for Indigenous literacy projects, and establishing the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, which, in 2013, raised nearly half a million dollars, translated dozens of early childhood books into the first languages of Indigenous communities, and supplied 100,000 books to remote Indigenous communities around Australia.

A number of authors have also been selected for the awards. Philosopher and author Peter Singer and teacher and disability advocate Christine Durham have been shortlisted in the Senior Australian of the Year category for Victoria; ballet director and Mao’s Last Dancer author Li Cunxin has been shortlisted in the Australian of the Year category for Queensland, and burns survivor Turia Pitt, whose autobiography Everything to Live For was published this year by Random House, has been shortlisted in the Young Australian of the Year category for NSW.

To see the full list of finalists visit the website here.

State and territory awards recipients will be announced at gala functions around the country in November, ahead of the national awards recipients announcement in Canberra on the eve of Australia Day on 25 January 2014.

Category: Local news