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NBC Qantas New Writers' Award
Subcategory of NBC Banjo Awards
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Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 1991

winner y separately published work icon Revolution by Night, or, Katjala Wananu (The Son after the Father): A Story of the Central Deserts Together with the Monograph Written by Jack Terrence Dutruc and Entitled "Interior" an Analysis of Hieroglyphs in Australian Art, and Its Perspectives James Bardon , Sydney : Local Consumption Publications , 1991 Z462303 1991 single work novel

Year: 1990

winner y separately published work icon Cardboard : The Strength Thereof and Other Related Matters Fiona Place , Sydney : Local Consumption Publications , 1989 Z42640 1989 single work novel 'A fictionalized account of one woman's life-threatening eating disorder and her eventual hard-won recovery. Author Fiona Place has created Lucy, a narrator who is capable of taking the reader inside the dark and puzzling experience of anorexia nervosa. A university student, Lucy falls ill while on a coach trip in Europe. Ashen, thin and with a thready heartbeat, she cannot understand what is wrong with her. The tour leader decides she is homesick. And lying on her bed, she is left to fend for herself. Alone in her tiny hotel room Lucy wonders what she should do? Is she really sick or just homesick? Reluctantly, she decides to fly to an English speaking country. And to her embarrassment is taken off the plane in a wheelchair. Lucy is now a patient. And unknowingly enters into a dynamic and powerful struggle over the ownership of her life's narrative. Hospitalized she undergoes a range of treatments - some harsh, some ineffective, others insightful and intelligent. Cleverly observed, Lucy invites the reader to make sense of what it means to be ill. To understand why eating has become impossible. And as she fleshes out her journey towards recovery, demands her distress be understood. Demands it be put into her own words. When it was first published Cardboard was recognized as a compelling portrait and one of the first books to understand the importance of the role of narrative in the recovery process. Similarly today when much of the focus on eating disorders concerns decoding the genetics and biology of the condition, this prize-winning novel continues to provide an understanding of the individual's affective experience and the socio-cultural context in which it occurs.' (Source: bookseller's website)

Year: 1989

winner y separately published work icon Out of the Line of Fire Mark Henshaw , Ringwood : Penguin , 1988 Z370746 1988 single work novel

'To an Australian writer visiting Heidelberg, the brilliant young philosophy student Wolfi is a compelling character. From the start, the details of Wolfi's life are curious - from his inquisitorial father and passionate mother to the grandmother who pays for his sexual initiation with a prostitute and to his connections with the outlandish rogue Karl.

'As we are lured by Wolfi's obsession into the mysterious and erotic maze of this novel, we find nothing is as it appears.

'What in fact is fact and what in fiction is fiction?' (Publication summary)

Year: 1988

winner y separately published work icon Black Cat, Green Field Graeme Harper , Moorebank : Black Swan , 1988 Z379265 1988 single work novel
VIEW ALL LISTED RECIPIENTS (6)

Works About this Award

Henshaw Wins Literary Award Robert Hefner , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 10 February 1994; (p. 4)
Banjo Accolade Helps Henshaw Face Music Amanda Lynch , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 24 September 1989; (p. 18)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (2)
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