Media Release

The Commonwealth's Best Writers Arrive in Melbourne!

The cream of the Commonwealth’s writers will be in Melbourne from 9 to 15 May, for the judging and presentation of the prestigious Commonwealth Writers Prize.

Two Australians are represented, Melbourne author Michelle de Kretser, winner of the Best Book Award in the South East Asia and Pacific region and the region’s Best First Book award winner, Lebanese-based Australian Nada Awar Jarrar. They are competing against South African authors Damon Galgut and Diane Awerbuck, Frances Itani and Kate Taylor from Canada and British authors Caryl Phillips and Mark Haddon.

The State Library of Victoria is hosting the prize and running a week-long program of events, including readings in selected suburban and regional centres. The program is the highlight of the Library’s ‘Wordfest,’ part of its 150th Anniversary Program.

The Best Book and Best First Book winners will be announced at a dinner in the State Library’s Cowen Gallery on Saturday 15 May. The Awards are valued at 10,000 pounds ($24,500) and 3,000 pounds ($7,300) respectively. In addition, the winner of the Best Book award will be invited to London for an audience with Her Majesty The Queen.

The Commonwealth Writers Prize is one of the most important literary prizes in the world. It was established by the Commonwealth Foundation in 1987 to encourage and reward the upsurge of new Commonwealth fiction and ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin.

Previous winners include Richard Flanagan, Peter Carey, Zadie Smith, JM Coetzee, Murray Bail, Rohinton Mistry, Louis de Bernieres, Vikram Seth, Alex Miller, David Malouf, Mordechai Richler and Janet Frame.

The Commonwealth Writers Prize is managed by Cumberland Lodge at the invitation of the Commonwealth Foundation and in association with Booktrust. The 2004 Awards presentation and its associated program is administered by the State Library of Victoria.