The Miles Franklin Award or Miles Franklin Literary Award is a special award that is given to a novelist. We have recently got our winner of Miles Franklin Awards 2022. It is a great honor and is awarded to a novel that is a true work of literature and demonstrates Australian life in any aspect. This award holds a special behind its origin. Miles Franklin, the classic Australian writer who is worldly renowned for writing a classic, “My Brilliant Career,” originated the award. It is given as per her will. The talented writer left her property in order to fund the award. Over the years, the award has honored the works of many great writers.
Miles Franklin Award holds a very prestigious place, but it has also endured many controversies. One such scandal happened in 1995 when Helen Darville won for the novel “The Hand.” This book started the debate about Australian literature authenticity. Darville was of Ukrainian descent. The author claimed that the book was about her family history. Later, it was revealed that the content was plagiarized, and the judges who made her win resigned. Let’s look at the winner Of Miles Franklin Awards 2022.
Winner Of Miles Franklin Awards 2022
And the award goes to…Jennifer Down. Yes, Jennifer Down is the winner of Miles Franklin Awards 2022. She got the news very interestingly. In her most recent interview, the author stated that she missed the call that would tell her about the Miles Franklin Award 2022. Jennifer was in the hotel room and was on a Zoom call. Nevertheless, she called them and got the most wonderful news of her life. The author further stated that she was shocked by the news and went speechless.
Jennifer got the award for her second novel, “Bodies of Light.” She is the epitome of her talent. In fact, her first book, which is a collection of short stories, made her the best young Australian novelist by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2017 and 2018. This is not it. She has been an achiever and has been awarded many fellowships. And the prize money she got is huge, i.e., $60,000. It is the country’s richest literary award.
The Miles Franklin Winner Shared Her Story
Jennifer Down hails from a family of welfare workers. In her book, the writer talked about “literally dinner-table conversation.” The winner Of Miles Franklin Awards 2022 shared that she feels bad when such serious issues go unnoticed. Jennifer feels that it is worst that people get surprised while discussing them. The writer is concerned about how people just forget about the issue.
Furthermore, Jennifer revealed that the experiences she mentioned in the book are not her own. The writer went on to have massive research for the book. She read parliamentary reports, Senate inquiries, care leaver testimony, and police transcripts. Jennifer even dedicated all her free time to reading. Moreover, she said that while reading about how the state failed, young people feel miserable. Jennifer worked too hard, and it is no wonder she is the winner of Miles Franklin Awards 2022