Beaumont wins Asher Literary Award 2015

9 December 2015 Books+Publishing

Joan Beaumont has won this year’s Asher Literary Award for her book Broken Nation (A&U).

Beaumont was announced as the winner of the $12,000 award at an event in Sydney on 8 December, hosted by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA).

Beaumont’s book, which in 2014 was a joint-winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for history, was chosen from a shortlist of six. The other shortlisted books were Warrior (Libby Connors, A&U), ANZAC: The Unauthorised Biography (Carolyn Holbrook, NewSouth), The Golden Age (Joan London, Vintage), Holiday in Cambodia (Laura Jean McKay, Black Inc.) and My Gallipoli (Ruth Starke & Robert Hannaford, Working Title Press).

The judging panel, Tegan Bennett Daylight, Tony Birch and Charlotte Wood, said ‘Broken Nation combines authority with a richly human approach—telling the story of Australian participation in and response to the Great War in prose that is measured but full of meaning and energy’.

The Asher Literary Award is awarded biennially to a female author whose work has an anti-war theme. In 2013 the award was won by Belinda Castles for her book Hannah and Emil (A&U).

The ASA administers the Asher Literary Award on behalf of the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Arts. More information about the award can be found here.

Category: Local news