The 2020 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award winner has been revealed as Katherine Kruimink, for her novel, A Treacherous Country.
The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award is a prize for an unpublished manuscript written by a writer under the age of thirty-five. Along with a publication contract with Allen & Unwin, the winning author receives $20,000 in prize money and an advance against royalties. Kruimink’s manuscript was chosen from a shortlist of four, which included Emily Brugman (The Islands), Belinda Lopez (Tete) and Maree Spratt (The Followers).
As with last week’s Stella Prize announcement, the winner was revealed in a live webcast on Monday evening, presented by Australian musician and memoirist Clare Bowditch. This is the first time the prize has been awarded since 2018, with Allen & Unwin choosing not to name a winner in 2019, citing a lack of quality in the prize submissions.
Not so this year – the judges had nothing but glowing praise for Kruimink and A Treacherous Country, with judge Tegan Bennett Daylight calling it ‘Witty, warm and lively.’
The 2020 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award winner joins authors such as Kate Grenville, Tim Winton and Gillian Mears who have gone on to enjoy incredible success, including winning and being shortlisted for other awards such as the Miles Franklin Award, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Booker Prize.
Congratulations Katherine!
—A Treacherous Country by K.M. Kruimink (Allen & Unwin) is out on the 21st of April.
Find out more about the 2020 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Prize here.
A Treacherous Country
There is a woman, somewhere, here, in Van Diemen's Land, unless she had died or otherwise departed, called Maryanne Maginn.
Gabriel Fox, the young son of an old English house, arrives in a land both ancient and new. Drawn by the promise of his heart's desire, and compelled to distance himself from pain at home, Gabriel begins his quest into Van Diemen's Land. His guide, a Cannibal who is not all he seems, leads him north where Gabriel might free himself of his distracting burden and seek the woman he must find...
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Olivia Fricot
Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.
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