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Russell Prize for Humour Writing 2019 shortlist announced

18 April 2019   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

The State Library of NSW has announced the shortlist for the 2019 Russell Prize for Humour Writing.

The shortlisted works are:

  • The Hunter and Other Stories of Men (David Cohen, Transit Lounge)
  • Boy Swallows Universe (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate)
  • Deadly Kerfuffle (Tony Martin, Affirm)
  • The Drover’s Wives (Ryan O’Neill, Brio)
  • The Helen 100 (Helen Razer, A&U)
  • The Lucky Galah (Tracy Sorensen, Picador).

The shortlist was chosen from 56 books published in the past two years. Judging panel chair Patti Miller said the shortlisted books range from ‘self-deprecating, no-holds-barred memoir to quietly comic fictional worlds—each one in their own way a revelation of the seriousness of humour’. ‘Only people who really care about the state of things are truly funny,’ said Miller.

The $10,000 biennial prize is awarded to the best book of humour writing by an Australian author published in the previous two years, and aims to ‘celebrate, recognise and encourage the humour-writing genre’.

The winner will be announced at a Sydney Writers’ Festival event at the State Library of NSW on 2 May.

Steve Toltz won the 2017 Russell Prize for humour writing for his novel Quicksand (Penguin).

For more information about the prize, visit the the State Library of NSW website.

 

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Category: Awards Local news