Queanbeyan rapper and poet Omar Musa is among three debut novelists featured on the Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist. Suzanne McCourt and Christine Piper, who won the Vogel Literary Prize last year, are also first-time novelists.
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At the other end of the spectrum, Elizabeth Harrower is longlisted for the first time at the age of 87, for a novel she wrote in the 1960s but withdrew from publication in 1971. After that she didn't publish again. The only award Harrower has won is the 1996 Patrick White Award. However, she allowed publication of In Certain Circles last year and, with the reissue of her four earlier novels, it has brought her a late burst of admiration in Australia and overseas.
"There are many wonderful things in this novel," wrote Andrew Riemer in The Sydney Morning Herald review of In Certain Circles. "Harrower's skill in evoking a place is impressive. Her eye for oddities of behaviour, for quirks of character and for patches of pretentiousness is as sure as ever. The wry intelligence of her view of middle-class Australian life is evident throughout. Her writing is characteristically sharp and pithy. Whatever the reason behind her decision not to allow this novel to be released four decades ago, its rebirth is an event to be celebrated."
Eight of the 10 nominees are women, also including award-winning veterans Joan London and Sonya Hartnett. Many of the books deal with forms of domestic violence, child abuse and broken families, reflecting a trend in fiction - and sadly, in society.
State Library of NSW Mitchell Librarian and one of the judges, Richard Neville, described the list: "From a contemporary rap symphony [Musa] and a 1950s polio clinic love affair [London], to the suburban father too good to be true [Hartnett] and the spiritual journey of an Antarctic supply ship [Parrett], this year's Miles Franklin longlist showcases the extraordinary vitality and range of recent Australian fiction."
"Interestingly, a number of the novels are written from the child's perspective, with unravelling families, or families in tension, driving the narratives," he said.
The longlist of 10 authors competing for the $60,000 prize is:
Elizabeth Harrower, In Certain Circles
Sonya Hartnett, Golden Boys
Sofie Laguna, The Eye of the Sheep
Joan London, The Golden Age
Suzanne McCourt, The Lost Child
Omar Musa, Here Come the Dogs
Favel Parrett, When the Night Comes
Christine Piper, After Darkness
Craig Sherborne, Tree Palace
Inga Simpson, Nest
This year's judging panel also includes The Australian's Murrary Waldren, Sydney bookseller Lindy Jones, Queensland Writers' Centre founding chair Craig Munro and Emeritus Professor Susan Sheridan.
The Miles Franklin was first awarded in 1957 for a novel that is "of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The shortlist will be released on Monday May 18 and the winner will be announced on June 23.