Writing not seen as a prime mover
People in publishing are gobsmacked at the omission of
writers from the government cultural think tank . . . and there’s
to be a breath of fresh air from Tim Winton - his first novel in
seven years, writes Jason Steger. Oh, and David Malouf has been
shortlisted for another prize.
Keven Rudd’s big ideas summit next month wants to shape the
future but it seems there is one glaring omission in the culture
section. Yes, books and writing don’t get a mention despite the
waffle claiming the government is committed to promoting a
“national culture of creativity, innovation and enterprise”.
The people considering culture under the guidance of Cate
Blanchett will examine: future directions for Australia’s principal
arts bodies; future directions for the ABC, SBS, Australia
Television and Radio Australia; how best to develop a globally
innovative and competitive film industry; how to encourage
participation in emerging global industries such as game design,
the internet 2.0, graphics-rich applications and animation; how we
build on the creative sector’s potential as an Australian
export.
As with the recent Queen’s birthday honours in which no writers
were included, there is no indication the books sector, an industry
worth more than $2 billion, will be considered.
HarperCollins publishing director Shona Martyn says it would be
“bizarre and foolish to not talk about writing and publishing in
the creative category”.
And Michael Heyward, publisher at Text, says it is a
“gobsmacking omission” that there is no reference to a books
industry that generates more sales in terms of GST revenue and more
employment than the film and music industry combined.
“You cannot have a vision of cultural expression in Australia
without significant reference to book publishing,” he says.
“Because of all our cultural endeavours, it’s one of the most
democratic, one of the most successful creative export industries
and is content rich in a way that is unignorable. Without our
writers the pool of stories we have to draw on is much
shallower.”
Historians are history
More info has emerged about the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards
- two $100,000 prizes for a work of fiction and non-fiction
respectively - that was announced within hours of Kevin Rudd
winning last November’s elections. It’s bad luck for historians
particularly - they are ruled out of winning the PM’s new prize and
the PM’s prize for history set up by John Howard although they are
allowed to enter both. The three judges in each panel will be
looking for “the entries deemed to posses the highest literary
merit”. And they will be making recommendations to the PM who “will
make the final decision”. OK, they are the PM’s prize but it seems
an odd way to run a literary prize. Shouldn’t the appointed judges
have the final decision? Surely the whole process should be free
from any potential political influence.
Seven-year itch
Tim Winton’s first novel in seven years appears in May.
Breath is about a man looking back on the crucial
friendships, relationships and experiences in his adolescence.
Winton’s on top form in this poignant rites-of-passage novel, which
may remind readers of some of the stories in The Turning,
Winton’s collection that was published in 2004.
It’s coming out under Penguin’s Hamish Hamilton imprint, Winton
having returned to Penguin after 13 years and seven books with Pan
Macmillan. Perhaps the move shouldn’t have come as too much of a
surprise. Penguin has a substantial Winton backlist of 11 books,
including his best-known novel, Cloudstreet, and the move
coincided with the departure of his publisher, Nikki Christer, to
Random House.
Barry, Barry good
The State Library of Victoria announced its survey of our
favourite summer reads by a Victorian author or one who is
Victoria-based this week. And guess what? It was a dead heat,
between Max Barry’s Company and Barry Heard’s Well
Done those Men. Two very different books: the first, a satire
on corporate culture; the second, a moving memoir about the impact
of serving in Vietnam. Both were published by Carlton-based Scribe.
Barry, whose first book, Syrup, was a bestseller in the
US, said he was surprised by the result. “I didn’t think my ability
to rort the system would be so successful. I have more of a
readership in the US than in Australia. I put it on my website and
asked my publisher if he thought it was ethical and he said ’see if
they can vote multiple times’. I’m quite sure I received some votes
from outside our national boundary.” (It’s true. Go to
maxbarry.com.)
Hail Jones . . . and Malouf
David Malouf’s Complete Stories has been shortlisted
for the $US30,000 ($A32,000) Kiriyama Prize, which focuses on
Pacific Rim literature. He is joined on the list by last year’s
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize winner, Mister Pip, by New
Zealander Lloyd Jones. Others on the list are Nicole Mones’ The
Last Chinese Chef; Roma Tearne’s Mosquito; and Zhu
When’s I Love Dollars. The winner will be announced on
April 1. And how has the Booker shortlisted Jones’ impact in the
British market been boosted by having his own taxi (pictured)
cruising London streets? What ever happened to black cabs?
