Australia's most prestigious literary award will be appearing on our cultural radars before too long: the longlist will be released on March 15th, the shortlist on April 19, and the winner on June 21.
The "Australian Book Review", honoring the award's 50th anniversary, has instituted the Miles Franklin Beat-up Award. "This will be awarded to the first reader who alerts us to a grumpy news story about the perfidy of Miles." In other words, they want someone to grumble about the fact that the award is only presented to books (or plays) which reflect Australian characters, settings or references. Well, I had my say about this last year so I won't be caught out again. I may be grumpy but even I can see a set-up when it stares me in the face.
