‘Audacious, enthralling': The Age Book of the Year shortlists announced
The six books on the fiction shortlist have been described as particularly exciting in 'eclecticism and range' by the judges, author and critic Bram Presser, and The Age and Sydney Morning Herald 's Canberra bureau chief Michelle Griffin.
The books on the fiction shortlist are:
The Burrow by Melanie Cheng
Depth of Field by Kirsty Iltners
Vortex by Rodney Hall
Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane
The Kingdom of Dust by David Dyer
Ghost Cities by Siang Lu
From a suburban Melbourne home during the COVID lockdowns to the rocky surface of the moon, the books, said Presser and Griffin, 'span time and place, delighting us with dashes of sublime beauty, familiar horror and pointed satire'.
The judges described Melanie Cheng's book as 'a restrained work of immense grace and compassion'; David Dyer's Kingdom of Dust as an 'exquisitely balanced psychological thriller'; Fiona McFarlane's short stories as 'audacious in concept and remarkable in execution'; Siang Lu's Ghost Cities as a 'tremendously inventive … bonkers satire'.
They praised Rodney Hall's Vortex as 'expansive, generous, intelligent and utterly enthralling' and declared 'few books this year could match the sheer beauty of Kirsty Iltners' Depth of Field'.
The judges for the non-fiction section, author, reviewer and mission director of Caritas Australia, Michael McGirr, and author and director Lorin Clake, said the books on the non-fiction shortlist are all written out of deep and passionate engagement with their subject matter.
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