Cohen wins Russell Prize for humour writing

6 May 2019 Books+Publishing

David Cohen has won the 2019 Russell Prize for humour writing for his short story collection The Hunter and Other Stories of Men (Transit Lounge).

Cohen’s ‘eclectic collection’ was chosen from a shortlist of six titles, and was praised by judges for ‘its original, imaginative narratives, its assured evocative style, the obvious warmth of the narrator for all his flawed characters, and most of all, for its sustained comic vision’.

‘The stories are all original and unexpected, each one connected by a unified comic sensibility,’ the judges said. ‘These are not the stand-up comedian’s one-liners; they have an awareness of the absurd, the surreal, the comic, in everyday life; the true comic’s unsettling serious gaze at the strange ways we make sense of existence.’

Cohen receives $10,000. The Russell Prize for Humour Writing is administered by the State Library of NSW on behalf of the estate of the late Peter Wentworth Russell. The 2017 award was presented to Steve Toltz for his novel Quicksand (Penguin).

For more information about the award, click here.

Category: Awards Local news