The shortlist for the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Awards has been announced and there are 14 in total, fiction and non-fiction.
The awards are one of Australia's richest, with the winner of each category receiving $100,000.
Mr Rudd's decision is expected to be announced next month, as he will make the final decision, after advise from a six-member judging panel.
Shortlist: Fiction
- Burning In, by Mireille Juchau
- El Dorado, by Dorothy Porter
- Jamaica, by Malcolm Knox
- Sorry, by Gail Jones
- The Complete Stories, by David Malouf
- The Widow and Her Hero, by Tom Keneally
- The Zookeeper's War, by Steven Conte
Shortlist: Non-fiction
- A History of Queensland, by Raymond Evans
- Cultural Amnesia: Notes in the Margin of My Time, by Clive James
- My Life as a Traitor Zarah Ghahramani with, by Robert Hillman
- Napoleon: The Path to Power, 1769-1799, by Philip Dwyer
- Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers, by Philip Jones
- Shakespeare's Wife, by Germaine Greer
- Vietnam: The Australian War, by Paul Ham
There is a serial child killer stalking the streets of Melbourne.
The victims are killed gently, lovingly, a gold mark traced on their forehead.
This killer doesn't hate children. This killer believes in childhood innocence at any cost.
Unflinching and morally uncompromising, El Dorado is the story of a friendship under siege, and the very long shadows that jealousy and betrayal can cast. It is both a complex thriller and a compelling reading experience from Australia's maverick and most versatile poet.