Miles Franklin Award 2018 Winner Announced
Michelle de Kretser has won the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary
Award for her novel The Life to Come, published by
Allen & Unwin. This is her second Miles Franklin win, her previous win was
in 2013 for her novel Questions of Travel. Michelle
is only the third woman in the Award’s history to win more than once.
When describing how it feels to win the Miles Franklin for a
second time, Michelle said: “I feel twice as lucky, twice as happy, and twice
as honoured.”
The Miles Franklin Literary Award, recognised as Australia’s
most prestigious literary prize, is presented to novels of the “highest
literary merit” that depict “Australian life in any of its phases”. Perpetual serves
as Trustee for the Award with the winner awarded $60,000.
When describing this year’s winning novel, the judges said The Life to Come is a powerful
novel that effortlessly blends sharp satire of the literary world with deeply
compassionate portraits of lonely people and their strategies for survival.
Her novel was selected from a remarkable shortlist, including: Felicity
Castagna’s No More Boats, Eva Hornung’s The Last Garden, Catherine McKinnon’s Storyland, Gerald Murnane’s Border Districts and Kim
Scott’s Taboo.
The award was announced at the 2018 Melbourne Writers
Festival on 26 August.