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‘Mannix’ wins 2016 National Biography Award

Mannix by Brenda Niall (Text) has won this year’s $25,000 National Biography Award, presented by the State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW).

Niall’s biography of the former Catholic Archbishop Daniel Mannix was described by the judges as ‘a gripping biography of Australia’s most prominent religious figure’.

Niall’s book was chosen from a shortlist of six that also included: Battarbee and Namatjira (Martin Edmond, Giramondo); Comrade Ambassador: Whitlam’s Beijing Envoy (Stephen FitzGerald, MUP); Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather (Karen Lamb, UQP); Bearing Witness: The Remarkable Life of Charles Bean, Australia’s Greatest War Correspondent (Peter Rees, A&U); and Reckoning: A Memoir (Magda Szubanski, Text). The shortlisted authors each receive $1000.

SLNSW state librarian and CEO Alex Byrne said in a statement: ‘Over its 21 year history the National Biography Award has celebrated a body of incredible stories about our nation and its people to the benefit of us, the readers. This year’s winner, together with the five other shortlisted works, is yet another outstanding addition to this long list.’

The judges were author Peter Cochrane, reviewer and journalist Rosemary Sorensen, and author and historian Richard White.

For more information about the award, visit the SLNSW website here.

 

Category: Local news