More awardy goodness

Since March and the announcement of one very pretty shortlist, we in the House have been on tenterhooks.* But for a short time we were off tenterhooks, and free to gambol for joy, once the winners of the 2010 Aurealis Awards were announced:

Best kids' fiction (primarily through words)
The Keepers: Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner

Best YA short story
'A Thousand Flowers' by Margo Lanagan, Zombies and Unicorns

Best YA novel
Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

HOWEVER, we had no sooner settled down to catch our breath and tidy our hair than there came another pretty shortlist, for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards! We are all on tenterhooks once more!

YA fiction
Good Oil by Laura Buzo

About a Girl by Joanne Horniman

Kid's fiction
Shake a Leg by Boori Monty Pryor and Jan Ormerod

Congratulations, Lian, Margo and Karen; Laura, Joanne, Boori and Jan!

*and also quite worn out with setting our caps at the shortlist.

So much to celebrate!

The Melbourne Writers Festival and AussieCon 4 both featured lively and entertaining panels with many an Onion-flavoured author, and are now done and dusted for another year. Hurrahs to all who organised events, participated in panels and attended in droves.

AussieCon 4 was capped off with the presentation of the Hugo awards, brilliantly emceed by Garth Nix, a man of destiny who recognised he had big shoes to fill.* And there was much hometown delight and pride when Shaun Tan got the gong (or Rocket-ship shaped trophy as it were) for Best Professional Artist. Hooray!

Speaking of delight and pride, how delighted and proud are we that Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia and Justine Larbalestier's Liar both won their categories in the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards?
Extremely. Delighted. Very. Very. Proud.

But wait, there's more! Inkys! Inkys! Inkys! Inkys! What a lovely longlist it is, especially as it features:

• Going Bovine by Libba Bray
• The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan
• Liar by Justine Larbalestier
• Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

So let us have cake!

That's a gluten-free Orange Cardamom and Almond Cake with Orange-Blossom Yogurt, dear readers.

The Cake-maker Virtuoso reports that while the recipe instructed that two oranges be used, she only had one, so she boldly added two mandarins that proved to contain many, many seeds for removal. Being from Gourmet Traveller, the recipe also called for extremely fancy candied orange segments to be arranged on top, but she courageously said 'Pooh to all that Simon Johnson nonsense,' seized an orange, tore long, snaky strips off it with her zester, dipped them daringly (with tweezers) into boiling sugar syrup and coated them in caster sugar. They dried delightfully overnight, and the leftover orange-scented sugar syrup now awaits an opportunity for inclusion in an appropriate cocktail - waste not, want not, friends. Waste not, want not.**



* Check out Garth's opening address for revelations about the moment when his destiny became apparent, the actual owner of the shoes and a hobbit cameo.
** Speaking of wanting, is it cocktail hour yet?

Interviewers, be a full storm!

What we mean to say is, Mutton befrills a reviewer.

Or rather: A timeserver be wilful. *snort*

No no wait: Be a fleeter violin, Mrs Wurst!

(OK, walk away from the anagram generator, lady, walk away...*)


To put it another, more correct, way

Melbourne Writers Festival!

It's here! It's here!

Go to it.

Many authors - Onions and others - will be talking about many many interesting things. From Hamlet, to ancient magic, to Twilight: hot or not?, to graphic novels and beyond.

See you there!

And, in case you missed it, the Davitt awards were presented at the MWF Sisters in Crime dinner on Saturday night - and we are thrilled to report that not only did Justine Larbalestier's Liar win the YA category, the Onions scooped the pool. Yes! A clean sweep! My weren't we proud.


*If you're thinking, 'Wait, no - step back to the anagram generator, lady. Step back. I love wordplay', then you need to get hold of David Astle's book Puzzled, which is chock full of Secrets and Clues from a Life Lost in Words. (Also, you're a wordnerd - just so you know.)

Hip hip hooray!

The CBCA Book of the Year Awards were announced on Friday and we Onions had much to cheer about.

WINNERS! WINNERS!

Younger Readers

• Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool by Odo Hirsch

Picture Book of the Year

• The Hero of Little Street by Gregory Rogers

HONOUR BOOKS! HONOUR BOOKS! HONOUR BOOKS!

Older Readers

• The Winds of Heaven by Judith Clarke
• A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard
  

Eve Pownall Award for Information Book of the Year

• Maralinga - the Anangu Story by Yalata & Oak communities with Christobel Mattingley, Allen & Unwin

Congratulations to all the the authors and illustrators whose books won or were honoured in their categories.

A New Prime Minister

's Literary Award Shortlist!*

We were very pleased and excited when KRudd announced two new categories for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards: Children's and Young Adult.

But today we were even more pleased and excited and proud when Peter Garrett (for JGill) announced the shortlists, and they were well seasoned with Onion authors.

Young Adult Fiction


Winds of Heaven by Judith Clarke

The judges said: 'The atmospheres and personalities Clarke poetically defines in The Winds of Heaven are haunting, the times richly evoked, and the plot beautifully developed to an optimistic, redemptive resolution.'


Children's Fiction

Cicada Summer by Kate Constable

The judges said: 'a time-slip fantasy written with the gentlest of touches... This is a beguiling treasure of a book; an old-fashioned 'secret garden' type of story, with fully realised characters, set in a beguiling dream landscape.'

**

Mr Chicken Goes to Paris by Leigh Hobbs

The judges said: 'an anarchic and exuberant work... Wryly comical and steeped in literary allusions, a love of architecture, and stylistic joie de vivre, this is a work for a wide readership, by one of Australia's most inventively original artists.'

**

Mannie and the Long Brave Day by Martine Murray and Sally Rippin

The judges said: 'Martine Murray's style of writing is so astute, with each word adding to the rhythm and the playfulness, the details rippling with quirky imagination, and Sally Rippin's glorious illustrations making this a total joy.'

--------------

We say: Huge congratulations to Judith, Kate, Leigh, Martine and Sally. We are in complete agreement with the PM** and her judging panel. And well done to all the other authors and illustrators who make up a fine shortlist.

* See what we did there? Aren't we clever?

** One probably doesn't get many chances in life to say that.

Let off all the fireworks, ring all the bells, blow all the trumpets...

There is manifold Celebration in the House of Onion.

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan has won the 2008 Aurealis Award for Best Illustrated/Graphic Novel.

The Judges said:
'Tales from Outer Suburbia was a standout that was chosen unanimously by the judges as this year's winner. The writing and artwork are tremendously accomplished and come together magically. A truly marvellous example of how text, image and layout can come together to make up a great deal more than the sum of their parts.'

We say: Well done, Shaun!



Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan is a 2009 Printz Honour Book.

The judges said:

'In utterly original language, Lanagan re-imagines “Snow White and Rose Red” and explores the brutality and beauty of life.'

We say: Hooray for Margo! *



The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman has won the 2009 Newbery Medal .

The judges said: 'A delicious mix of murder, fantasy, humor and human longing, the tale of Nobody Owens is told in magical, haunting prose.'

We say: Three cheers for Neil!

* And well done Melina Marchetta for winning the Printz. Go Aussie!