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What are your Favourite Local Books

Submitted by Karen on Sat, 12/04/2008 - 3:01pm.
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Just for a bit of fun - please have a go in our poll - add your favourite book if it's not on the list so that other's can vote for it as well

Tick your Favourite Local Book

 

 

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Where to Get Started with Australian Crime Fiction

Submitted by Karen on Fri, 28/03/2008 - 10:19am.
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We're often asked for recommendations on where to get started with Australian Crime Fiction or if I like X author, what other authors would be worth trying.  Ages ago we put the attached list up and every now and again we go back and adjust / edit add.

If anybody has any other recommendations that they'd like to make please add some comments to the attached list.  The more recommendations the better!

 

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Forum topic: Suggestions for Where to Start with AustCrime Fiction

Congratulations Maris Morton - Inaugural CAL Scribe Fiction Prize Winner

Submitted by Karen on Tue, 23/02/2010 - 10:13am.
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Congratulations to long-time Sisters in Crime member Maris Morton from Uki NSW who won the inaugural CAL Scribe Fiction Prize at the age of 70! She wins $12,000 but more importantly Scribe will publish her novel, A Darker Music. She was highly commended for her short story "Hawk's Hill" in the 2009 Scarlet Stiletto Awards. Well done Maris!

 
Read today's Age article:
 
 
Scribe's media release:
 

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Scribe is thrilled to announce that the winner of the inaugural CAL Scribe Fiction Prize is:
 
Maris Morton for her manuscript, A Darker Music, a mystery that uncovers the buried secrets of a family who own a merino sheep station in Western Australia.

The winner will be officially announced on February 18 at the newly opened Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas in Melbourne. Maris Morton will receive $12,000 and a book contract from Scribe.

Maris Morton was born in 1938 and A Darker Music will be her first published book. She currently lives in Uki in rural NSW but has worked in various jobs around Australia including as an English teacher, shearers’ cook, shed hand, artist, art restorer and director of an art gallery.
 
Maris said of the win: ‘Winning the CAL Scribe Prize has made what seemed to be an impossible dream come true. I'm still pinching myself. Winning has given me an added incentive to go on doing what I love best: telling stories!’
 
It was a very tight contest in the end — almost a dead heat between the three shortlisted works — but after much wrangling and negotiation the three judges agreed that Maris Morton’s work was the standout. The judges were Kerryn Goldsworthy, Mark Rubbo, and Aviva Tuffield. Of the winning manuscript, judge Mark Rubbo said: ‘It has a strong narrative and personally I found it was an extremely satisfying read.’
 
Both Meg Mundell’s Black Glass and Jane Sullivan’s Little People were highly commended and will be considered for publication.
 
The CAL Scribe Fiction Prize for writers over 35 attracted 534 entrants, with the eldest born in 1919 (90 years old), while 22 entrants were born in the 1920s and 64 in the 1930s. The standard was very high and it was a tough task to narrow the longlist down to just three manuscripts and then to choose a winner. Aviva Tuffield, Fiction Acquisitions Editor at Scribe, says: ‘The judging process was quite lengthy and the judges admired all of the ten longlisted manuscripts.’
 
The Scribe Fiction Prize will be run again this year, with entries opening in a couple of months. Watch our website (http://www.scribepublications.com.au/prize ) for more details.

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Winners - The Cry of the Marwing Competition

Submitted by Karen on Wed, 30/12/2009 - 1:27pm.
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We're really pleased to announce that the winners have been drawn for our The Cry of the Marwing competition and copies of the book will be sent off to our lucky winners asap.  Congratulations go to:

 

Patrick Murphy, NY, USA

Kerri-Anne Sullivan, TX, USA

Shirley Gallagher, PA, USA

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Win a copy of The Cry of the Marwing, K.S. Nikakis

Submitted by Karen on Thu, 17/12/2009 - 10:47am.
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Allen & Unwin have been incredibly generous giving us 3 copies of The Cry of the Marwing to give away.

No geographical restrictions on this one - but more details (and how you enter the draw) at:

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/feedback/The+Cry+of+the+Marwing

 

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Hazel Edwards - Nanjing-Aust Cultural Exchange Author

Submitted by Karen on Tue, 29/09/2009 - 9:48pm.
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CHINA Cultural Exchange

Leaving October 23rd, Hazel Edwards is also the first Australian cultural exchange author for the Nanjing International Cultural Exchange Center (NICEC) which promotes cultural understanding. CAL supports her project. Her ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake’(Penguin) series is being translated into Chinese by the Sichuan Publishing House and a short film is in production with Pocket Bonfire Productions http://www.pocketbonfire.com/

to celebrate the 30th year of this Australian classic picture book. Hazel also holds the education portfolio for the Australian Society of Authors.

 

To interview:Hazel Edwards

M 0409 022702

(03) 98087803

www.hazeledwards.com has bio and hi res downloadable author photo

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Hazel Edwards, Morris Gleitzman among nominees for Astrid Lindgren Award

Submitted by Karen on Tue, 29/09/2009 - 9:45pm.
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$5M kroner Astrid Lindgren International Children’s Literature Award

( regarded as The Children’s Lit equivalent of the Nobel Prize)

MEDIA RELEASE; Thursday Sept 17th 2009

QUOTE

‘I’ve always admired Astrid Lindgren’s portrayal of adventurous, feisty female characters like Pippi Longstocking , Lindgren’s independence as an author and also her mentoring of young creators. I was born in 1945 ,the year her Pippi Longstocking was published.’’Hazel Edwards

Blackburn (Vic) author Hazel Edwards (www.hazeledwards.com) is one of Australia’s nominees for The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award www.alma.se . Illustrator Shaun Tan and YA author Morris Gleitzman are in the 168 nominees from 61 countries which include UK Children’s Laureates Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Morpurgo , illustrator Quentin Blake and New Zealand’s author Margaret Mahy.

Other recipients

In 2008, Australian Sonya Hartnett was the first Australian to win this highly prestiguous award which is regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for Children’s Literature.Previous winners have included Maurice Sendak(Where the Wild Things Are) and Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia) as well as Banco del Libro a Book Exchange Bank to promote reading in Venezuela

Details of Award

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the world's largest prize for children's and young adult literature. The award, which amounts to SEK 5 million, is awarded annually to a single recipient or to several. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and those active in reading promotion may be rewarded. The award is designed to promote interest in children's and young adult literature, and in children's rights, globally. An expert jury selects the winners from candidates nominated by institutions and organisations worldwide. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is administered by the Swedish Arts Council. Astrid Lindgren was the well known Scandinavian author of books about feisty girls.As an author, a publisher, vocal advocate for human rights and mentor of young writers,Lindgren had a decided impact on the world of children's literature, and on the standing of the rights of children.She died at 94 and her works are translated into more than 90 languages.

The winner will be announced in 2010 and awarded by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden at the May ceremony in Stockholm.

To interview:Hazel Edwards

M 0409 022702

(03) 98087803

www.hazeledwards.com has bio and hi res downloadable author photo

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2009 Davitt Award Winners

Submitted by Karen on Sat, 22/08/2009 - 9:36am.
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At a fantastic night out and ceremony last night the Sisters in Crime 2009 Davitt Award winners were announced, wined, dined, feted and photographed. 

The nights festivities were highlighted by a chat between Sue Turnbull and Justice Elizabeth King of the Supreme Court of Victoria, some fabulous food and 130+ Sisters in Crime and Brothers in Law turning out on a cold Melbourne night to celebrate some absolutely fantastic authors and books.

But without further ado - the winners of the categories in the order they were announced:

TRUE CRIME

Chloe Hooper, The Tall Man (Penguin Books Australia)

YOUNG ADULT

Catherine Jinks, Genius Squad (Allen & Unwin)

ADULT FICTION

Malla Nunn, A Beautiful Place to Die (PanMacmillan)

READERS CHOICE

Katherine Howell, The Darkest Hour (PanMacmillan)

 

Malla wasn't in Australia but luckily the organisers were able to get hold of her on the telephone and by a minor miracle the holding of a microphone up to a mobile telephone meant we were able to hear from Malla and to be utterly frank - her acceptance could bring a tear to the eye of even the most hearted hearted crime fiction fan.  (But the photograph of the lovely head of publicity at Malla's publisher holding the trophy aloft, with the Mobile phone for the author photograph will be a priceless one).

Fabulous night, fabulous books and as a topper - we won one of the raffle prizes so that was a copy of all the prizewinning books!

The full list of nominees in case anybody wants to do what I've been doing - and ensuring you catch up with all the nominated books:

ADULT NOVELS

  • Diane Armstrong, Nocturne ( HarperCollins)
  • Sydney Bauer, Alibi (PanMacmillan)
  • Robin Bowles, The Mystery of the Missing Masterpiece (The Five Mile Press)
  • Helen Denkha, Many Happy Returns (Zeus Publications)
  • Leah Giarratano, Voodoo Doll (Random House)
  • Kerry Greenwood, Murder on a Midsummer Night (Allen & Unwin)
  • Marion Halligan, Murder on the Apricot Coast (Allen & Unwin)
  • Katherine Howell, The Darkest Hour (PanMacmillan)
  • Catherine Jinks, The Dark Mountain (Allen & Unwin)
  • Vivienne Kelly, Cooee (Scribe Publications)
  • T J Joyce, Hotel of Secrets (Exisle Publishing)
  • P D Martin, Fan Mail (PanMacmillan)
  • Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden (Allen & Unwin)
  • Camilla Noli, Still Waters (Hachette Livre)
  • Malla Nunn, A Beautiful Place to Die (PanMacmillan)
  • Alex Palmer, The Tattooed Man (HarperCollins)
  • Bronwyn Parry, As Darkness Falls (Hachette Livre)
  • Caroline Petit, Deep Night Soho Press, New York)
  • Maria Simms, The Dead House (Gibbes Street)
  • Felicity Young, Harum Scarum (Fremantle Arts Press)

YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

  • Catherine Jinks, Genius Squad (Allen & Unwin)
  • Sophie Masson, The Case of the Diamond Shadow (ABC Books (Harper Collins)
  • Maureen McCarthy, Somebody’s Crying (Allen & Unwin)
  • Isabelle Merlin, Three Wishes (Random House)
  • Beth Montgomery, Murderer’s Thumb (Text)
  • Felicity Pulman, Willows for Weeping (Random House)
  • Moya Symons, The Walk Right In Detective Agency: High Crime in Milk Bay (Walker Books)

TRUE CRIME

  • Carol Baxter, Breaking the Bank: An Extraordinary Colonial Robbery (Allen & Unwin)
  • Lindy Cameron, ed., Outside the Law 2 (The Five Mile Press)
  • Lindy Cameron & Fin J Ross, Killer in the Family: Over Twenty Chilling Accounts of Domestic Tragedy (The Five Mile Press)
  • Lisa Clifford, Death in the Mountains: The True Story of a Tuscan Murder (PanMacmillan)
  • Kay Danes, Families Behind Bars (New Holland Publishers)
  • Judith Fordham, Life, Law and Not Enough (New Holland Publishers)
  • Chloe Hooper, The Tall Man (Penguin Books Australia)
  • Rochelle Jackson, Inside Their Minds: Australian Criminals (Allen & Unwin)
  • Anne Lovell, Connie's Secret: The True Story of a Shocking Murder and a Family Mystery at a Time When Appearances Were Everything (Allen & Unwin)
  • Camilla Nelson, Crooked (Random House)
  • Vicki Petraitis, Crime Scene Investigations: More Stories from the Australian Police Files (The Five Mile Press)
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Blog entry: 2009 Ned Kelly Nominees Announced
Forum topic: Nominees for the 2009 Davitt Awards

2009 Ned Kelly Nominees Announced

Submitted by Karen on Wed, 12/08/2009 - 9:17am.
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http://www.nedkellyawards.com/2009.html

Best first fiction
Ghostlines, Nick Gadd *
Crooked, Camilla Nelson *
The Build Up, Phillip Gwynee *

Best Fiction
Bright Air Barry Maitland *
Deep Water Peter Corris *
Smoke & Mirrors Kel Robertson *

Best True crime
The Killing of Caroline Byrne, Robert Wainwrights
The Tall Man, Chloe Hooper
A Question of Power, Michelle Schwarz

The SD Harvey Short Story
Fidget's Farewell, Scott McDermott
Farewell My Lovelies, Chris Womersley
Fern's Farwell, Bronwyn Mehan
Farewell to the shade, Cheryl Rogers

 

Phew - I think I'm nearly up to date for a change (* marks the ones I've read). Mind you, as per usual I'm always behind with the True Crime listing!

 

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Blog entry: 2009 Davitt Award Winners

Nominees for the 2009 Davitt Awards

Submitted by daisyjac on Thu, 23/07/2009 - 2:03pm.

39 NOMINEES FOR DAVITT AWARDS FOR THE TOP CRIME BOOKS BY WOMEN

Thirty-nine crime books by Australian women are competing for Sisters in Crime’s 9th Davitt Awards for the best crime novels and true crime books by Australian women published in book form in 2008. Four Davitts will be presented this year – adult, young adult, true crime and readers’ choice, as voted by Sisters in Crime’s 500 members nationally.

The winners each receive a handsome trophy to be presented on Friday August 21, 7pm, Celtic Club Restaurant, corner La Trobe and Queen Sts, Melbourne by Justice Betty King of the Supreme Court of Victoria. ‘Judge Betty’, as she is fondly known, will also talk about her life and times with Sisters in Crime national co-convenor, Dr Sue Turnbull.

The books under contention are:

ADULT NOVELS

  • Diane Armstrong, Nocturne ( HarperCollins)
  • Sydney Bauer, Alibi (PanMacmillan)
  • Robin Bowles, The Mystery of the Missing Masterpiece (The Five Mile Press)
  • Helen Denkha, Many Happy Returns (Zeus Publications)
  • Leah Giarratano, Voodoo Doll (Random House)
  • Kerry Greenwood, Murder on a Midsummer Night (Allen & Unwin)
  • Marion Halligan, Murder on the Apricot Coast (Allen & Unwin)
  • Katherine Howell, The Darkest Hour (PanMacmillan)
  • Catherine Jinks, The Dark Mountain (Allen & Unwin)
  • Vivienne Kelly, Cooee (Scribe Publications)
  • T J Joyce, Hotel of Secrets (Exisle Publishing)
  • P D Martin, Fan Mail (PanMacmillan)
  • Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden (Allen & Unwin)
  • Camilla Noli, Still Waters (Hachette Livre)
  • Malla Nunn, A Beautiful Place to Die (PanMacmillan)
  • Alex Palmer, The Tattooed Man (HarperCollins)
  • Bronwyn Parry, As Darkness Falls (Hachette Livre)
  • Caroline Petit, Deep Night Soho Press, New York)
  • Maria Simms, The Dead House (Gibbes Street)
  • Felicity Young, Harum Scarum (Fremantle Arts Press)

YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

  • Catherine Jinks, Genius Squad (Allen & Unwin)
  • Sophie Masson, The Case of the Diamond Shadow (ABC Books (Harper Collins)
  • Maureen McCarthy, Somebody’s Crying (Allen & Unwin)
  • Isabelle Merlin, Three Wishes (Random House)
  • Beth Montgomery, Murderer’s Thumb (Text)
  • Felicity Pulman, Willows for Weeping (Random House)
  • Moya Symons, The Walk Right In Detective Agency: High Crime in Milk Bay (Walker Books)

TRUE CRIME

  • Carol Baxter, Breaking the Bank: An Extraordinary Colonial Robbery (Allen & Unwin)
  • Lindy Cameron, ed., Outside the Law 2 (The Five Mile Press)
  • Lindy Cameron & Fin J Ross, Killer in the Family: Over Twenty Chilling Accounts of Domestic Tragedy (The Five Mile Press)
  • Lisa Clifford, Death in the Mountains: The True Story of a Tuscan Murder (PanMacmillan)
  • Kay Danes, Families Behind Bars (New Holland Publishers)
  • Judith Fordham, Life, Law and Not Enough (New Holland Publishers)
  • Chloe Hooper, The Tall Man (Penguin Books Australia)
  • Rochelle Jackson, Inside Their Minds: Australian Criminals (Allen & Unwin)
  • Anne Lovell, Connie's Secret: The True Story of a Shocking Murder and a Family Mystery at a Time When Appearances Were Everything (Allen & Unwin)
  • Camilla Nelson, Crooked (Random House)
  • Vicki Petraitis, Crime Scene Investigations: More Stories from the Australian Police Files (The Five Mile Press)

Sisters in Crime spokesperson, Dr Sue Turnbull, said that the formal judging was about to take place but judges had already found the battle for laurels in the crime fiction universe particularly fierce this year. “Novels and true crime books by Australian women continue to rank amongst the tops reads of the year.”.

Frantic (PanMacmillan), the debut novel by ambulance officer turned crime writer, Katherine Howell, won the 2008 Davitt Awards for the best (adult) crime novel by an Australian woman in 2007. Sydney writer Mandy Sayer took out the Davitt (young adult) for The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (HarperCollins) while award-winning journalist Janet Fife-Yeomans won the Davitt (true crime) for Killing Jodie How Australia's most elusive murderer was brought to justice (Penguin Books Australia). The Davitt (reader’s choice by the members of Sisters in Crime) went to Victorian crime writer Lindy Cameron who edited Scarlet Stiletto – The First Cut
(Mira), a collection of winning short stories over 13 years of Sisters in Crime’s Scarlet Stiletto Awards Competition.

The judging panel for 2009 comprises Dr Shelley Robertson (Sisters in Crime member, forensic pathologist), Rosi Tovey (former owner of Chronicles Bookshop in St Kilda, Dr Sue Turnbull (Head of Media Studies, La Trobe University, Sisters in Crime national co-convenor and Sydney Morning Herald crime columnist), Sylvia Loader (Sisters in Crime national co-convenor, and reviewer) and Tanya King-Carmichael (reviewer and former Sisters in Crime national co-convenor).

The awards are named after Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) who wrote Australia’s first mystery novel, Force and Fraud, in 1865.

Enquiries: Sue Turnbull National Co-convenor on 03 9844 1644 h; 03 9479 2513 or 0407 810 090.

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