Miles Franklin Award
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1954), who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career (1901). She bequeathed her estate to fund this award.<ref>The Miles Franklin Literary Award Template:Webarchive, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Australia).</ref> As of 2025, the award is valued at A$60,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>About the award Template:Webarchive, official website.</ref>
Winners
1957–1969
1970–1979
1980–1989
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Jessica Anderson | The Impersonators | Macmillan | <ref>"Novelist Wins Second Award", The Canberra Times, 4 June 1981, p3</ref> |
| 1981 | Peter Carey | Bliss | Faber and Faber | <ref>"Miles Franklin prize", The Canberra Times, 27 May 1982, p7</ref> |
| 1982 | Rodney Hall | Just Relations | Penguin Books | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 1983 | No award | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | ||
| 1984 | Tim Winton | Shallows | Allen & Unwin | <ref>"Franklin award to Winton", The Canberra Times, 15 May 1985, p24</ref> |
| 1985 | Christopher Koch | The Doubleman | Chatto & Windus | <ref>"Koch wins literary award", The Canberra Times, 14 May 1986, p7</ref> |
| 1986 | Elizabeth Jolley | The Well | Viking Press | <ref name="MFA1986">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 1987 | Glenda Adams | Dancing on Coral | Viking Press | <ref name="MFA1987">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 1988 | No award | Date changed from year of publication to year of announcement. |
||
| 1989 | Peter Carey | Oscar and Lucinda | University of Queensland Press | <ref name="MFA1989">Template:Cite web</ref> |
1990–1999
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Tom Flood | Oceana Fine | Allen & Unwin | <ref>"Second major prize for book", The Canberra Times, 22 June 1990, p16</ref> |
| 1991 | David Malouf | The Great World | Chatto & Windus | <ref name="CT91">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 1992 | Tim Winton | Cloudstreet | Penguin Books | <ref name="MFA1992">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 1993 | Alex Miller | The Ancestor Game | Penguin Books | <ref>"Miller wins Miles Franklin", The Canberra Times, 26 May 1993, p5</ref> |
| 1994 | Rodney Hall | The Grisly Wife | Macmillan | <ref name="MFA1994" /> |
| 1995 | Helen Demidenko | The Hand That Signed the Paper | Allen & Unwin | <ref name="MFA1995">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 1996 | Christopher Koch | Highways to a War | Heinemann | <ref name="MFA1996">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 1997 | David Foster | The Glade Within the Grove | Vintage | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| 1998 | Peter Carey | Jack Maggs | University of Queensland Press | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| 1999 | Murray Bail | Eucalyptus | Random House | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
2000–2009
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Thea Astley | Drylands | Penguin Books | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| Kim Scott | Benang | Fremantle Press | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> | |
| 2001 | Frank Moorhouse | Dark Palace | Knopf | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| 2002 | Tim Winton | Dirt Music | Picador | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| 2003 | Alex Miller | Journey to the Stone Country | Allen & Unwin | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| 2004 | Shirley Hazzard | The Great Fire | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| 2005 | Andrew McGahan | The White Earth | Allen & Unwin | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| 2006 | Roger McDonald | The Ballad of Desmond Kale | Vintage | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| 2007 | Alexis Wright | Carpentaria | Giramondo | <ref name="AustlitMFA" /> |
| 2008 | Steven Carroll | The Time We Have Taken | HarperCollins Publishers | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2009 | Tim Winton | Breath | Hamish Hamilton | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
2010–2019
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Peter Temple | Truth | Text Publishing | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2011 | Kim Scott | That Deadman Dance | Picador | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 2012 | Anna Funder | All That I Am | Hamish Hamilton | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2013 | Michelle de Kretser | Questions of Travel | Allen & Unwin | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2014 | Evie Wyld | All the Birds, Singing | Random House | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2015 | Sofie Laguna | The Eye of the Sheep | Allen & Unwin | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2016 | A. S. Patrić | Black Rock White City | Transit Lounge | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 2017 | Josephine Wilson | Extinctions | UWA Publishing | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 2018 | Michelle de Kretser | The Life to Come | Allen & Unwin | <ref name="mfa2018">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 2019 | Melissa Lucashenko | Too Much Lip | University of Queensland Press | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
2020–
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Tara June Winch | The Yield | Penguin Random House | <ref name="2020winner">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 2021 | Amanda Lohrey | The Labyrinth | Text Publishing | <ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2022 | Jennifer Down | Bodies of Light | Text Publishing | <ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 2023 | Shankari Chandran | Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens | Ultimo Press | <ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 2024 | Alexis Wright | Praiseworthy | Giramondo | <ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> |
| 2025 | Siang Lu | Ghost Cities | University of Queensland Press | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> |
Controversies
Author Frank Moorhouse was disqualified from consideration for his novel Grand Days because the story was set in Europe during the 1920s and was not sufficiently Australian.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1995 winner Helen Darville, also known as Helen Demidenko and Helen Dale, won for The Hand That Signed the Paper and sparked a debate about authenticity in Australian literature. Darville claimed to be of Ukrainian descent and said it was fiction based on family history. Writer David Marr, who presented the award to her, said that revelations about her true background did not "alter a single thing about the quality of the story, it knocks completely out of the water her answers to critics who said it was not historically accurate, that she knows because of direct family experience, which appears to be complete bull----."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Even before the hoax was revealed, Darville’s book was considered anti-Semitic and justified the genocide of Jewish people.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was also later revealed that she plagiarised from multiple sources.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In 2004, judges of the award resigned due to what they viewed as the commodification of the awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2022 longlisted writer John Hughes was accused of plagiarising significant sections of his 2021 book The Dogs from Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich's nonfiction book The Unwomanly Face of War. Nearly 60 similarities and identical sentences were found in a comparison of Hughes' novel and the English version of Alexievich's book. The Guardian newspaper also found similarities between incidents described in the books, including the central scene from which The Dogs takes its title.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Further investigation found other examples of plagiarism in the novel and that Hughes copied sections of classic texts including The Great Gatsby and Anna Karenina without acknowledging the original source.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The book was subsequently withdrawn from competition.
The Stella Prize was created in 2013 as a reaction to the supposed under-representation of women as winners of literary prizes, in particular the 2011 Miles Franklin Award shortlist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, since 2013, only three men have won the Miles Franklin Award.
Repeat winners
- (4) Thea Astley: 1962, 1965, 1972, 2000
- (4) Tim Winton: 1984, 1992, 2002, 2009
- (3) Peter Carey: 1981, 1989, 1998
- (3) David Ireland: 1971, 1976, 1979
- (2) Jessica Anderson: 1978, 1980
- (2) Rodney Hall: 1982, 1994
- (2) Thomas Keneally: 1967, 1968
- (2) Michelle de Kretser: 2013, 2018
- (2) George Johnston: 1964, 1969
- (2) Christopher Koch: 1985, 1996
- (2) Alex Miller: 1993, 2003
- (2) Kim Scott: 2000, 2011
- (2) Patrick White: 1957, 1961
- (2) Alexis Wright: 2007, 2024<ref name=":3" />
Shortlisted works
Shortlisted titles are only shown for the years 1987 onwards. No record has yet been found for any shortlists being released prior to that year. Winners are listed in bold type.
1980s
In 1989, the date changed from the year of publication to year of announcement, so no award was named in 1988.
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Template:Sortname | Dancing on Coral | Winner <ref name="MFA1987" /> |
| Template:Sortname | Holden's Performance | Shortlist<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| Template:Sortname | Truant State | ||
| Template:Sortname | Bloodfather | ||
| Template:Sortname | Home Is the Sailor | ||
| 1989 | Template:Sortname | Oscar and Lucinda | Winner<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Template:Sortname | Captivity Captive | Shortlist<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| Template:Sortname | Out of the Line of Fire | ||
| Template:Sortname | Building on Sand | ||
| Template:Sortname | Charades |
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Longlisted works
Longlisted titles are only shown for the years 2005 onwards. That was the first year that such a list was released by the judging panel. The number of works included on the longlist varies from year to year.
2005–2009
2005<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Salt Rain, Sarah Armstrong
- The Gift of Speed, Steven Carroll
- Backwaters, Robert Engwerda
- The Ghost Writer, John Harwood
- The Broken Book, Susan Johnson
- Sixty Lights, Gail Jones
- A Private Man, Malcolm Knox
- The Philosopher's Doll, Amanda Lohrey
- The White Earth, Andrew McGahan
- I Have Kissed Your Lips, Gerard Windsor
- The Submerged Cathedral, Charlotte Wood
- The Last Ride, Denise Young
2006<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Knitting, Anne Bartlett
- The Garden Book, Brian Castro
- The Secret River, Kate Grenville
- An Accidental Tourist, Stephen Lang
- The Ballad of Desmond Kale, Roger McDonald
- Prochownik's Dream, Alex Miller
- Sunnyside, Joanna Murray-Smith
- A Case of Knives, Peter Rose
- The Broken Shore, Peter Temple
- Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, Carrie Tiffany
- Dead Europe, Christos Tsiolkas
- The Wing of Night, Brenda Walker
2007<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Theft: A Love Story, Peter Carey
- Silent Parts, John Charalambous
- The Unknown Terrorist, Richard Flanagan
- Beyond the Break, Sandra Hall
- Dreams of Speaking, Gail Jones
- The Unexpected Elements of Love, Kate Legge
- Careless, Deborah Robertson
- Carpentaria, Alexis Wright
2008<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Fern Tattoo, David Brooks
- The Time We Have Taken, Steven Carroll
- Love Without Hope, Rodney Hall
- Orpheus Lost, Janette Turner Hospital
- Sorry, Gail Jones
- The Widow and Her Hero, Thomas Keneally
- The Memory Room, Christopher Koch
- Landscape of Farewell, Alex Miller
- Secrets of the Sea, Nicholas Shakespeare
2009<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Pages, Murray Bail
- Wanting, Richard Flanagan
- Addition, Toni Jordan
- One Foot Wrong, Sofie Laguna
- Ice, Louis Nowra
- Fugitive Blue, Claire Thomas
- A Fraction of the Whole, Steve Toltz
- The Devil's Eye, Ian Townsend
- The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas
- Breath, Tim Winton
2010–2019
2010<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Figurehead, Patrick Allington
- Parrot and Olivier in America, Peter Carey
- The Bath Fugues, Brian Castro
- Boy on a Wire, Jon Doust
- The Book of Emmett, Deborah Forster
- Sons of the Rumour, David Foster
- Siddon Rock, Glenda Guest
- Butterfly, Sonya Hartnett
- The People's Train, Thomas Keneally
- Lovesong, Alex Miller
- Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey
- Truth, Peter Temple
2011<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Rocks in the Belly, John Bauer
- The Good Daughter, Honey Brown
- The Mary Smokes Boys, Patrick Holland
- The Piper's Son, Melina Marchetta
- When Colts Ran, Roger McDonald
- Time's Long Ruin, Stephen Orr
- That Deadman Dance, Kim Scott
- The Legacy, Kirsten Tranter
- Bereft, Chris Womersley
2012<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Blood, Tony Birch
- Spirit of Progress, Steven Carroll
- Spirit House, Mark Dapin
- The Precipice, Virginia Duigan
- All That I Am, Anna Funder
- Sarah Thornhill, Kate Grenville
- Five Bells, Gail Jones
- Foal's Bread, Gillian Mears
- Autumn Laing, Alex Miller
- Cold Light, Frank Moorhouse
- Past the Shallows, Favel Parrett
- The Street Sweeper, Elliot Perlman
- Animal People, Charlotte Wood
2013<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Floundering, Romy Ash
- Lola Bensky, Lily Brett
- Street to Street, Brian Castro
- Questions of Travel, Michelle de Kretser
- The Beloved, Annah Faulkner
- The Daughters of Mars, Thomas Keneally
- The Mountain, Drusilla Modjeska
- The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman
- Mateship with Birds, Carrie Tiffany
- Red Dirt Talking, Jacqueline Wright
2014<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt, Tracy Farr
- The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan
- The Railwayman's Wife, Ashley Hay
- Mullumbimby, Melissa Lucashenko
- The Night Guest, Fiona McFarlane
- Belomor, Nicolas Rothwell
- Game, Trevor Shearston
- My Beautiful Enemy, Cory Taylor
- Eyrie, Tim Winton
- The Swan Book, Alexis Wright
- All the Birds, Singing, Evie Wyld
2015<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- In Certain Circles, Elizabeth Harrower
- Golden Boys, Sonya Hartnett
- The Eye of the Sheep, Sofie Laguna
- The Golden Age, Joan London
- The Lost Child, Suzanne McCourt
- Here Come the Dogs, Omar Musa
- When the Night Comes, Favel Parrett
- After Darkness, Christine Piper
- Tree Palace, Craig Sherborne
- Nest, Inga Simpson
2016<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Ghost River, Tony Birch
- Coming Rain, Stephen Daisley
- Hope Farm, Peggy Frew
- Leap, Myfanwy Jones
- The World Without Us, Mireille Juchau
- The Hands : An Australian Pastoral, Stephen Orr
- Black Rock White City, A. S. Patrić
- Salt Creek, Lucy Treloar
- The Natural Way of Things, Charlotte Wood
2017<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Easy Way Out, Steven Amsterdam
- An Isolated Incident, Emily Maguire
- The Last Days of Ava Langdon, Mark O'Flynn
- Their Brilliant Careers, Ryan O'Neill
- A Loving, Faithful Animal, Josephine Rowe
- Waiting, Philip Salom
- Where The Trees Are, Inga Simpson
- Hold, Kirsten Tranter
- Extinctions, Josephine Wilson
2018<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- A Long Way from Home, Peter Carey (Penguin Random House)
- No More Boats, Felicity Castagna (Giramondo Publishing)
- The Life to Come, Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin)
- The Crying Place, Lia Hills (Allen & Unwin)
- The Last Garden, Eva Hornung (Text Publishing)
- Some Tests, Wayne Macauley (Text Publishing)
- Storyland, Catherine McKinnon (HarperCollins Publishers)
- Border Districts, Gerald Murnane (Giramondo Publishing)
- From the Wreck, Jane Rawson (Transit Lounge)
- The Restorer, Michael Sala (Text Publishing)
- Taboo, Kim Scott (Picador Australia/Pan Macmillan Australia)
2019<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Lebs, Michael Mohammed Ahmad (Hachette)
- Flames, Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing)
- Boy Swallows Universe, Trent Dalton (Fourth Estate)
- A Sand Archive, Gregory Day (Picador)
- Inappropriation, Lexi Freiman (Allen & Unwin)
- A Stolen Season, Rodney Hall (Picador)
- The Death of Noah Glass, Gail Jones (Text Publishing)
- Too Much Lip, Melissa Lucashenko (UQP)
- Dyschronia, Jennifer Mills (Picador)
- The Lucky Galah, Tracy Sorensen (Picador)
2020–
2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The White Girl, Tony Birch (UQP)
- Room For a Stranger, Melanie Cheng (Text Publishing)
- Islands, Peggy Frew (Allen & Unwin)
- No One, John Hughes (UWA Publishing)
- Act of Grace, Anna Krien (Black Inc.)
- A Season on Earth, Gerald Murnane (Text Publishing)
- The Returns, Philip Salom (Transit Lounge)
- Exploded View, Carrie Tiffany (Text Publishing)
- The Yield, Tara June Winch (Hamish Hamilton)
- The Weekend, Charlotte Wood (Allen & Unwin)
2021<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Amnesty, Aravind Adiga (Picador)
- The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing)
- Our Shadows, Gail Jones (Text Publishing)
- Infinite Splendours, Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin)
- The Labyrinth, Amanda Lohrey (Text Publishing)
- The Animals in That Country, Laura Jean McKay (Scribe)
- Lucky’s, Andrew Pippos (Picador)
- Stone Sky Gold Mountain, Mirandi Riwoe (UQP)
- The Fifth Season, Philip Salom (Transit Lounge)
- Song of the Crocodile, Nardi Simpson (Hachette)
- The Inland Sea, Madeleine Watts (Pushkin Press)
- At the Edge of the Solid World, Daniel Davis Wood (Brio)
2022<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The Other Half of You, Michael Mohammed Ahmad (Hachette)
- After Story, Larissa Behrendt (UQP)
- Scary Monsters, Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin)
- Bodies of Light, Jennifer Down (Text Publishing)
- Echolalia, Briohny Doyle (Vintage)
- The Magpie Wing, Max Easton (Giramondo Publishing)
- The Airways, Jennifer Mills (Picador)
- One Hundred Days, Alice Pung (Black Inc.)
- The Performance, Claire Thomas (Hachette)
- 7 ½, Christos Tsiolkas (Allen & Unwin)
- Grimmish, Michael Winkler (Puncher & Wattmann)
2023<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Hopeless Kingdom, Kgshak Akec (UWA Publishing)
- Limberlost, Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing)
- Cold Enough for Snow, Jessica Au (Giramondo Publishing)
- Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, Shankari Chandran (Ultimo Press)
- Enclave, Claire G. Coleman (Hachette Australia)
- Losing Face, George Haddad (UQP)
- Forty Nights, Pirooz Jafari (Ultimo Press)
- Madukka: The River Serpent, Julie Janson(UWA Publishing)
- The Lovers, Yumna Kassab (Ultimo Press)
- Iris, Fiona Kelly McGregor (Pan Macmillan Australia)
- Waypoints, Adam Ouston (Puncher & Wattmann)
2024<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Only Sound Remains, Hossein Asgari (Puncher & Wattmann)
- Wall, Jen Craig (Puncher & Wattmann)
- Strangers at the Port, Lauren Aimee Curtis (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- Anam, André Dao (Hamish Hamilton)
- The Bell of the World, Gregory Day (Transit Lounge)
- Edenglassie, Melissa Lucashenko (UQP)
- The Sitter, Angela O'Keeffe (UQP)
- Hospital, Sanya Rushdi (Giramondo)
- Stone Yard Devotional, Charlotte Wood (Allen & Unwin)
- Praiseworthy, Alexis Wright (Giramondo)
2025<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Chinese Postman, Brian Castro (Giramondo)
- The Burrow, Melanie Cheng (Text)
- Theory & Practice, Michelle de Kretser (Text)
- Dirt Poor Islanders, Winnie Dunn (Hachette)
- Compassion, Julie Janson (Magabala)
- Politica, Yumna Kassab (Ultimo)
- Ghost Cities, Siang Lu (UQP)
- Highway 13, Fiona McFarlane (Allen & Unwin)
- The Degenerates, Raeden Richardson (Text)
- Juice, Tim Winton (Hamish Hamilton)
Notes
See also
- Australian History Awards
- Australian literature
- Culture of Australia
- The Commonwealth Writers Prize
- List of Australian literary awards
- List of literary awards
- National Biography Award
- New South Wales Premier's History Awards
- Prime Minister's Literary Awards
References
Further reading
External links
Template:Miles Franklin Literary Award Template:Authority control