Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­

Sarah Holland-Batt
10 November 2016

Two University of Queensland Press authors – Sarah Holland-Batt and Karen Lamb – have won acclaim for their work after being awarded significant Australian literary prizes this week.

Brisbane poet and Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ graduate Sarah Holland-Batt was awarded the poetry prize for her volume The Hazards at the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards ceremony in Canberra.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­P describes Ms Holland-Batt’s The Hazards as ‘a dazzling and inventive second collection’ which ‘careens through diverse geographical territory – from haunted post-colonial landscapes in Australia to brutal animal hierarchies in the cloud forests of Nicaragua.’

Karen Lamb was a joint winner of the 2016 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards non-fiction prize for her biography Thea Astley, Inventing Her Own Weather.

The biography sheds new light on the multiple Miles Franklin award-winning novelist Thea Astley who was one of Australia’s most beloved and highly private authors.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­P CEO Greg Bain, who retires from the role this month, said the result was an enormous honour for both writers and for Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­P.

Karen Lamb“We are thrilled and honoured to see Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­P books recognised at the highest level which reinforces Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­P’s work in fostering quality Australian literature,” Mr Bain said.

“It is particularly pleasing to see Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­P’s poetry list celebrated through Sarah’s work and for one of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­P’s iconic writers, Thea Astley, to be brought to prominence through Karen’s superb biography.”

The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards recognises individual excellence and the contribution Australian authors make to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life. Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­P have dominated these awards with six wins and 14 shortlistings since 2010.

The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, established in 2008, recognises individual excellence and the contribution Australian authors make to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life.

Photo Left - Karen Lamb

Media: Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ Communications; 07 3345 1120, communications@uq.edu.au