Australian historian Dr Alan Atkinson has won the overall $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature for his third volume of The Europeans in Australia. He also won the non-fiction category. Read more about his win here.
The other winners were:
Non-fiction ($25,000): The Europeans in Australia: Volume III, Nation, Alan Atkinson
Fiction ($25,000): To Name Those Lost, Rohan Wilson
Drama ($25,000): Resplendence, Angus Cerini
Poetry ($25,000): The Beautiful Anxiety, Jill Jones
Young adult ($25,000): The Protected, Claire Zorn
People’s choice award ($2000): Where Song Began, Tim Low
As I’ve already confessed (read the comments for this earlier post) I’m a huge Atkinson fan – not least because one of his early papers about John Macarthur has been incredibly helpful to my work on Elizabeth Macarthur. The paper is A. Atkinson, ‘John Macarthur Before Australia Knew Him’ , Journal of Australian Studies No 4, Melbourne, June 1979. Although, just for the record, the first volume of his Europeans in Australia has been enormously helpful too.
Congratulations to Dr Atkinson, and to all the other winners.
You’re the second person to praise Atkinson to me, the other being Yvonne of Stumbling through the past. I need to read him. I’m embarrassed to say I hadn’t really heard of him until Yvonne recommended him.
Read him. You won’t be sorry.
Read him. You won’t be sorry.