I didn’t report on this biennial award in 2022, but with the 2024 shortlist just having been announced, and my having read half of them, I am reminding us all again of this interesting award. Worth $50,000, this award, for those of you who don’t remember it, has very specific criteria:
“the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society”.
What this means is that it is not the sex of the writer that’s relevant here (nor, in fact, the genre). This award is for books about women and girls – and so can be written by anyone of any sex – but they must present women and girls in a positive or empowering way. I wrote a Monday Musings post about this “positive or empowering” requirement a few years ago.
This year’s shortlist of six books are all by women, but you’ll see that a male writer, Tony Birch, is among the highly commendeds.
- Gail Jones, Salonika Burning (Text Publishing) (my review)
- Melissa Lucashenko, Edenglassie (University of Queensland Press) (my review)
- Miranda Riwoe, Sunbirds (University of Queensland Press)
- Sara M Saleh, Songs for the dead and living (Affirm Press)
- Lucy Treloar, Days of innocence and wonder (Pan Macmillan Australia)
- Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard devotional (Allen & Unwin) (my review)
This year, the judges also named three Highly Commended titles:
- Tony, Birch, Women & children (University of Queensland Press)
- Shankari Chandran, Chai time at Cinnamon Gardens (Ultimo Press) (my review)
- Katerina Gibson, Women I know (Scribner)
The judging panel for the 2024 Barbara Jefferis Award comprises Hannah Kent (Chair), Jennifer Mills, and Melanie Saward. You can read the full judges’ comments on their decision and the individual books on the Australian Society of Authors website, but overall they said that:
“The many entries to this year’s prize reflected a healthy diversity of genre, form, settings and narratives. Common to many were themes of migration and exile, resilience and recovery from trauma, social isolation and renewed connection, thwarted ambition, and violence against bodies and minds. The representations of women and girls were varied and often original. We would welcome more expansive representations of gender diversity. […]
We found all six books deeply affecting, and many highly memorable for their unswerving demands for social justice and reclamations of power. We would like to extend our congratulations to their authors.”
They did make an interesting observation that “few writers focused on the future” and “wondered whether this revealed a wider desire for, and interest in, historical reckoning for this country”. Could be so. Having just spent two weeks in outback Australia, I sense some movement in understanding of what our dispossession of land has meant for our First Nations people. But so much has been lost and needs to be recovered, and progress in reconciliation seems very slow. Easy for a city-slicker to say, I do appreciate, but my heart tells me it has to be said.
The winner will be announced on 13 November 2024.
Apologies for the quick post, but I do like this award, and wanted to share it. However, I am on holidays still, and time is short.
Any thoughts?
Whispering Gums 
Thanks for sharing. I found it interesting that the books focused on girls and female stories, and not so much on, as the judges commented, on gender diversity. Whilst I enjoy such discussions, there seems a overcorrection to focusing on those stories in the media at the present time. Perhaps we do need that as a society right now? I see parrellels with indigenous stories and to take your point on indigenous perspectives changing, albeit slowly, those stories are critical for the process of reconciliation and healing. Thus it may be similar for gender diverse groups. Despite that, I liked that we haven’t forgotten the important stories of females and these awards highlight those tales.
Thanks Forestwood for these thoughts which are fair ones. My feeling is that this sort of overcorrection is often part of social (and political?) progress as we work to find a balance. It can get people’s noses out of joint but with the sort of reason and commonsense that you use here I think we usually find that balance?
Yes, I agree it is a wip to find the right balance, which might be adjusted perpetually, along with social dynamics?
Maintaining respect on all sides, is vital.
Yes, perpetual adjustment! Perfectly said.
Chai Time is the only one I’ve read. I’ve already said I’m not happy about Jones’ rewriting of Australian women’s involvement in the war (WWI) in Serbia/Macedonia. I follow Sarah Saleh on Twitter and I really should make the effort to read her poetry (I hope she wins).
Oh do you Bill … is there a particular reason you follow her? I know her name but not much else. But you are right I should read her too!
No reason, well one reason, Palestine, but I follow three or four writers who write stuff I agree (mostly) with.
Ah fair enough … I didn’t even know that about her!
I’ve never heard of an award that is so specific, but I appreciate what they are doing and how the point is content and not the author. It may even challenge some men to write more positivity about women and girls.
No, it’s an unusual one Melanie and was a little controversial when it was created. Male writers have been shortlisted though this time it’s just one male writer – First Nations – who was highly commended. But his The white girl of a few years ago would have been a worthy candidate.