**UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 7:00 PM FRIDAY, 11 AUGUST 2017**
Today I was delighted to announce the longlists for the Tasmania Book Prize and the Margaret Scott Prize as part of the 2017 Premier’s Literary Prizes on behalf of the Premier.
These longlists are a fascinating and diverse collection of high calibre writing and a great starting point for people who want to read Tasmanian stories or work written by Tasmanian authors.
They include literary fiction, writing about politics and society, travel writing, poetry, histories and graphic novels. The judges noted that the longlists demonstrate the rich diversity of Tasmanian writing and reading culture at this point in time.
The prizes are judged by an independent panel from the literary sector, chaired by Professor Hamish Maxwell-Stewart.
Longlist for the Tasmania Book Prize for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre - $25 000
· Losing Streak: How Tasmania was Gamed by the Gambling Industry by James Boyce, published by Black Inc;
· The Diemenois: Being the Correct and True Account of the Sensational Escape,Seclusion and Cruel Demise of a Most Infamous Man by J W Clennett, published by Hunter Publishers;
· Archipelago of Souls by Gregory Day, published by Pan Macmillan Australia;
· Solomon's Noose: The True Story of Her Majesty’s Hangman of Hobart by Steve Harris,published by Melbourne Books;
· Physick by Pete Hay, published by Shoestring Press;
· The Better Son by Katherine Johnson, published by Ventura Press;
· Wild Island by Jennifer Livett, published by Allen & Unwin;
· Fall of the Derwent by Justy Phillips and Margaret Woodward, published by A Published Event;
· Musquito: Brutality and Exile by Michael Powell, published by Fullers Publishing;
· Into the Heart of Tasmania by Rebe Taylor, published by Melbourne University Publishing.
Longlist for the 2017 Margaret Scott Prize for best book by a Tasmanian writer - $5 000
· The Shape of Water by Anne Blythe-Cooper, published by Forty South Publishing;
· In Brazil by Fran Bryson, published by Scribe Publications;
· Woven Landscape: Connections in the Tasmanian Midlands, written and published by Peter E Davies;
· A History of Port Davey, South West Tasmania, Volume One: Fleeting Hopes by Tony Fenton, published by Forty South Publishing;
· The White Room Poems by Anne Kellas, published by Walleah Press;
· South Pole: Nature and Culture by Elizabeth Leane, published by Realktion Books;
· Shadows in Suriname by Margaretta Pos, published by Forty South Publishing;
· The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose, published by Allen & Unwin;
· Down the Dirt Roads by Rachael Treasure, published by Penguin Random House;
· Crocoite by Margaret Woodward, published by A Published Event.
The judges will now move on to the challenging task of selecting the final shortlists for the 2017 Premier’s Literary Prizes from these longlisted titles.
The shortlists will be announced at a reception on the mainstage at the Theatre Royal on Thursday, 14 September 2017 as part of the Tasmanian Writers’ and Readers’ Festival.
The shortlists announcement will also include the $5 000 University of Tasmania Prize for the best new unpublished literary work by an emerging Tasmanian writer and the $5 000 Tasmanian Young Writer’s Fellowship.
The winners of all the prizes will be announced at an event at Government House in late 2017.
For more information about the Premier’s Literary Prizes visit http://tasmanianartsguide.com.au/plp/
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