Seven authors published by Fremantle Press have gained a place on the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards shortlists

Congratulations to Yuot A. Alaak, Kelly Canby, Jon Doust, Madelaine Dickie, Donna Mazza, Helen Milroy and Meg McKinlay, who are all one step closer to winning a Western Australian Premier’s Prize or Fellowship worth $15,000 and $60,000 respectively.

Fremantle Press book Father of the Lost Boys by Yuot A. Alaak has been shortlisted for the Premier’s Prize for an Emerging Writer, while Littlelight by Kelly Canby has been shortlisted alongside Meg McKinlay (Bella and the Voyaging House, Bella and the Wandering House, Drawn Onward and Ten Tiny Things) and Helen Milroy (Backyard Birds, Backyard Bugs and Wombat, Mudlark and Other Stories) for the Premier’s Prize for Writing for Children.

Canby, who won the award back in 2018 for her picture book The Hole Story, said she’s still pinching herself. She said, ‘Being a WA Premier Awards shortlister is a huge honour, of course, but also … a little surreal. The shortlist is made up of some truly great and gifted children’s book creators so I had to check several times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things when the list was announced. We have a deep, deep pool of talented writers and illustrators in WA and these awards are a wonderful way of acknowledging that. And while I hope being shortlisted does amazing things for all our book sales, I hope, more so, that it’s a chance for the rest of the country to see just how great we all are over here!’

Jon Doust (Return Ticket, To the Highlands and Boy on a Wire), Madelaine Dickie (Lines to the Horizon, Red Can Origami and Troppo) and Donna Mazza (The Albanian) are on the shortlist for a Western Australian Writer’s Fellowship which, at $60,000, is one of the most valuable awards in the Australian arts open to writers of any style, medium or genre.

In a media statement, Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman said the range, variety and sheer number of books entered was outstanding. He said, ‘The shortlisted authors have told beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting and joyful stories. I encourage everyone to read and share these wonderful Western Australian books.’

For the complete shortlist and more information, go to the State Library of Western Australia’s website.

The shortlisted books are available in all good bookstores or online from Fremantle Press. Just follow the links above.