Illawarra author Kate Holden has been shortlisted for a $20,000 literary prize for her book depicting a true tale of a desperate NSW farmer protecting his land at all costs, though at the expense of an environmental officer's life.
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The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek is among six titles vying for the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, now in its 20th year.
"The subjects explored by our shortlisted authors range from literature to agriculture, from environmentalism to religion, and from art history to Aboriginal affairs, set in places as widely separated as an aristocratic estate in Germany, the mountains and fertile valleys of Spain in a book that also explores the Mulga plains of south-west Queensland, the rich soil near Moree," said head judge Jamie Grant said.
"There are biographies, true crime stories, philosophical meditations, and personal memoirs among the shortlisted books, a variety that the judges hope will include as many different readers as possible."
The Nib Award celebrates excellence in research and writing and is Australia's only major literary award of its kind presented by a local council.
Ms Holden's book has been described as "an epic true story of greed, power and a desire for legacy" by her publisher (Black Inc Books) as it retells of the brutal killing of environmental officer Glen Turner when 80-year-old farmer Ian Turbull shot him in the back.
Ms Holden and the other shortlisted authors have already received the Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize of $1000, named in honour of the respected Australian playwright who was a former judge of the Nib Award, and instrumental in its development.
Finalists will also be eligible for the People's Choice Prize $2500 with voting open until October 25 https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/nib .
Winners will be announced in an online event on 24 November.
This 2021 shortlist includes:
- Son of the Brush (Allen & Unwin) by art identity and Woollahra gallery owner, Tim Olsen of Sydney, NSW
- Only Happiness Here: In Search of Elizabeth von Arnim (UQP) by Puberty Blues co-author, biographer and essayist Gabrielle Carey of Sydney, NSW
- The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek (Black Inc) by In My Skin: A memoir author and columnist, Kate Holden, of NSW
- A Letter to Layla: Travels to Our Deep Past and Near Future (Text Publishing) by journalist and broadcaster, Ramona Koval, of VIC
- The Believer: Encounters with Love, Death & Faith (Text publishing) by The Trauma Cleaner author Sarah Krasnostein, of VIC
- Amnesia Road: Landscape, violence and memory (New South Books) by cultural historian Luke Stegemann, of QLD.
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