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Monday, January 08, 2018

Favourite Australian Authors 2018 - First Heat!

At lunchtime today, the Booktopia blog announced its first list of candidates for Australia's favourite authors. I must say, I was pleased to see some of my nominations and disappointed that some others I had nominated weren't there. I would, for example, have been pleased to see Ambelin Kwaymullina, author of the wonderful Tribe trilogy. Michael Pryor would have been a nice one to add. Still, every year is different - some of those who were on the list last year, including the winner, weren't there this time. It depends on who nominates and how many. And many people may think that they should nominate someone new this time.

However, here's the link: https://blog.booktopia.com.au/2018/01/08/vote-favourite-australian-authors-2018/

Do wander over and take a look, even if you're not in Australia and can't vote. It is an interesting mix of classic authors, such as Ruth Park, Oodgeroo Noonuccal(also known as Kath Walker, a wonderful indigenous poet), Mem Fox and such, and much newer ones such as Melissa Keil and Amie Kaufmann. There are also the likes of Hazel Edwards and Kerry Greenwood. I don't think Hazel has been on the list before, or at least not while I've been following it, and I'm pretty sure Kerry hasn't been, or I would have certainly noticed and given her a vote. Wendy Orr is there too, and Juliet Marillier, both fabulous writers. Well done, all of you!

It's nice to see how many children's and YA writers are on the list this year, as there were last year. My old friend George Ivanoff is on the list - well, he has won a YABBA or two, voted by kids. Perhaps some of his young fans were nominating their favourite authors for this too! Well done, George!

In any case, I made the decision, this time, to vote for everyone whose books I'd read. I will have to think more carefully and make a decision later on, when the list shortens, but for now, I thought they all deserved a gong from me.

If you live here in Oz, I suggest you wander over to the Booktopia web site right now and vote. This is only the first round, but the next is on Wednesday, so not much time. An incentive is that if you give them your details, you'll be in the running for a $1000 book pack. I'm in the running!

Even if you don't live here, if you love reading, check it out and let me know what you think in the comments box below.

2 comments:

Lan said...

I think I'm going to do the same. I'll just vote for all the authors I actually know!

Sue Bursztynski said...

A good place to start!:-)