Balls
April 19
The long list for the Miles Franklin Award was the following:
Addition by Toni Jordan
A fraction of the whole by Steve Toltz
Breath by Tim Winton
Fugitive blue by Claire Thomas
Ice by Louis Nowra
One foot wrong by Sofie Laguna
The devil's eye by Ian Townsend
The pages by Murray Bail
The slap by Christos Tsiolkas
Wanting by Richard Flanagan
The shortlist was all men: Tim Winton, Louis Nowra, Murray Bail, Christos Tsiolkas, Richard Flanagan
Now I'd be one of the first to say Go Christos, and there are other fine novels on the list as well. Ham-fisted gender balance can end up being patronising -however, are the judges ( Robert Dixon, Morag Fraser, Lesley McKay, Regina Sutton and Murray Waldren) really suggesting that NONE of the following female writers deserved a shortlisting? Orly?
Michelle DeKretser, Helen Garner, Amanda Lohrey, Joan London or Kate Grenville. That's just to mention the women who didn't make the longlist. Those that did make the longlist but didn't get to the next round are Toni Jordan, Claire Thomas and Sofie Laguna. Writers like Julia Leigh also leap to mind though I accept she isn't eligible because her novel is set in France (yes - that old must-represent-Australian-life chestnut).
What was the problem? Too modest in scope? Too domestic? The undermining of women's writing involves the use of many such phrases.
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