The Banjo Prize: Winner Announced

by |August 31, 2018

HarperCollins Australia has announced journalist Tim Slee as the winner of the 2018 Banjo Prize for his unpublished manuscript Burn.

The following description of Burn gives us an idea of what to expect from the winning manuscript:

A deeply moving and timely Australian story told with a laconic, deadpan wit, Burn opens when bankrupt dairy farmer Tom Murray decides he’d rather sell off his herd and burn down his own house than hand them over to the bank. But something goes tragically wrong, and Tom dies in the blaze. His wife, Dawn, doesn’t want him to have died for nothing and decides to hold a funeral procession for Tom as a protest, driving 350km from Heywood to bury him in Melbourne where he was born.

To make a bigger impact she agrees with some neighbours to put his coffin on a horse and cart and take it slow – real slow. But on the night of their departure, someone burns down the local bank. And as the motley funeral procession passes through Victoria, there are more mysterious arson attacks. Dawn has five days to get to Melbourne before the police can impound the coffin and force her to bury her husband. Five days, five more towns, and a state ready to explode in flames.

‘Burn is a novel that sneaks up on you, and takes you by surprise – and before you know it, you’re deep in its world and don’t want to leave. Burn is a thought-provoking, heart-warming, quintessential Australian novel like no other, and I’m just thrilled that it is our inaugural Banjo Prize winner.’ – Catherine Milne, Head of Fiction at HarperCollins.”

‘I’m rapt over winning The Banjo Prize and being signed by HarperCollins. It makes me especially proud and happy that the manuscript that broke through for me is Burn, which is a book born in a time of bushfires, drought and hardship, and in which I tried to capture just a little of that unbreakable rebel spirit, that deep love of the land and support for each other through thick and thin, that to me is what Australia is really about.” – Tim Slee

HarperCollins has also announced two runners-up for The Banjo Award. Ruth McIver for Nothing Gold and Gregory James for Bordertown. Both runners up will receive a written assessment of their manuscript from HarperCollins.

HarperCollins Australia launched The Banjo Prize this year in hopes of uncovering Australia’s next great storyteller. There were 320 unpublished manuscripts submitted for the prize from around Australia.

As the winner of The Banjo Prize, Tim Slee will receive a publishing contract with HarperCollins as well as a $15,000 advance.

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About the Contributor

Sarah McDuling is Booktopia's Category Manager for Children's and Young Adult Books. She has been in the bookselling game for almost a decade and a dedicated booklover since birth (potentially longer). At her happiest when reading a book, Sarah also enjoys talking/writing/tweeting about books. In her spare time, she often likes to buy a lot of books and take photographs of books. You can follow her on Twitter and Instragram @sarahmcduling

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