Tasmania Book Prizes 2009 

Program of Literary Events 

April 1 

Tasmania has a strong literary identity, being home to many fine novelists, poets, writers and publishers of non-fiction in a variety of 

genres including history, environment, art, photography and biography.  The Tasmania Book Prizes are a biennial suite of prizes, delivered by 

Arts Tasmania in partnership with the University of Tasmania.  The prizes recognise, promote and encourage the increasingly active and 

popular Tasmanian publishing industry and are awarded in the following categories: 

The Tasmania Book Prize, for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre - $25,000 

The Margaret Scott Prize, for the best book by a Tasmanian writer - $5,000 

In the lead up to the announcement of the Prize winners on 4 April 2009, Arts Tasmania is delighted to offer a very special program of literary 

events, presented as part of Ten Days on the Island. Throughout the program, authors of the shortlisted titles will be in-conversation and 

presenting short readings. Top literary minds will also discuss publishing and new media, critical writing, place and identity in a free series of 

informative panel sessions.  This exciting program will be taking place April 1 - 4 at:  

The Commissariat Store, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 40 Macquarie Street, Hobart  

  The University of Tasmania Prize, Shortlised Authors In Conversation 

  Chair:  Alexander Okenyo,  bookseller at the Hobart Bookshop and judge of the Tasmania Book Prizes 2009. 

Lynne Andrews 

Antarctic Eye: the Visual Journey (Studio One, 2007) 

Lynne Andrews – artist, teacher, writer – has studied and taught in Hobart for many years. She has 

experienced three Antarctic visits – an overflight and two sea voyages. After travelling to Antarctica in 1997 

and completing a series of paintings she investigated the previously untold story of Antarctic visual art. The 

completion of a Master of Fine Art degree at the School of Art in Hobart paved the way for the writing 

and self-publication of Antarctic eye: The Visual Journey  - the first of its kind in providing an intensive art 

history account of work by artists inspired by Antarctica.    

Peter Huges (representing) 

Collection: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 2007) 

Founded in 1848, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) is Australia’s second oldest museum.  It is one 

of the country’s most diverse museums, incorporating natural and cultural history collections, an art museum 

and an herbarium.  Peter Hughes has been curator of Decorative Arts at TMAG since 1999.  Previous to his 

appointment he completed a Master of Arts (Art Theory) at the Institute of the Arts, Australian National 

University in Canberra.  His areas of research interest include the history of architecture and decoration from  

the 18th century to the present, the history of design, Australian furniture, Australian studio crafts and design.  

Helen Davies  

For the Record: James Benell’s Buildings in Early Launceston (Terrace Press, 2006) 

Helen Davies trained at the School of Art in Hobart and has taught and exhibited her work in Tasmania. In 

1986 she became a member of the Classification and Building Advisory Committee of the National Trust of 

Australia (Tasmania), moved into a James Bennell house and began researching his buildings in Launceston. 

For the Record was compiled and written over a twenty-year period and contains more than 240 drawings, 

diagrams and photographs by the author. The book was designed, published and funded by the author, and 

printed and bound in Launceston. 

Wed 1 April, 12 noon

Place and Identity 

If place is more than background, what is it doing in the fiction of these writers? Why choose 

particular places? How well do you need to know a place to write about it? If all places in fiction 

are  ‘made up’ by the writer during the process of writing, does the geography and history of its 

‘real’ counterpart matter at all? 

Chair: Lucy Frost, Professor of English at the University of Tasmania and Director of the Research 

Centre for Colonialism and its Aftermath. She is writing a book about Scottish convict women 

transported on the Atwick (1838). 

Katherine Scholes 

Katherine Scholes was born in Tanzania, spending her childhood there before moving to England and 

then Tasmania where she currently lives with her filmmaker husband Roger Scholes and their two 

sons. She is the author of international bestsellers Make Me an Idol, The Rain Queen and The Stone An- 

gel, and several children’s books, including the acclaimed Peacetimes and Puffin’s The Boy and the Whale. 

Her young adult novel, The Blue Chameleon, won a NSW State Literary Award. All of her books have 

been translated into numerous languages. 

Ronald Wright 

Ronald Wright is an award-winning novelist, historian and essayist. His first novel, A Scientific Romance, 

was a Globe and Mail, Sunday Times and New York Times Book of the Year. His non-fiction includes the 

#1 bestsellers Stolen Continents and the CBA Libris Award-winning A Short History of Progress. Wright 

presents What Is America? A fresh, passionate look at the world’s most influential nation, What Is 

America? is brimming with insight into history and human behaviour, and reframes the debates about 

the U.S.A. and about ourselves. 

Jonathan Ledgard 

Jonathan Ledgard is a Scottish novelist and author of the acclaimed 2006 novel, Giraffe. An international 

bestseller, Giraffe was published in Australia by Jonathan Cape and has since been widely translated. 

Ledgard was born in the Shetland Islands, in 1968, and has been an award-winning foreign correspondent 

for The Economist since 1995, specialising in political and war reporting. He covered the Balkan wars 

in the early 1990s and has since been based in Moscow, Los Angeles, Austin, Prague, and Kabul. He 

is presently Africa correspondent of The Economist, based in Nairobi. Ledgard is a contributor to The 

Atlantic Monthly and other journals and has lectured widely on writing and politics. 

Program of Literary Events 

April 1 

Wed 1 April, 1pm

Tasmania Book Prizes 2009 

Program of Literary Events 

April 2 

Tasmania has a strong literary identity, being home to many fine novelists, poets, writers and publishers of non-fiction in a variety of 

genres including history, environment, art, photography and biography.  The Tasmania Book Prizes are a biennial suite of prizes, delivered by 

Arts Tasmania in partnership with the University of Tasmania.  The prizes recognise, promote and encourage the increasingly active and 

popular Tasmanian publishing industry and are awarded in the following categories: 

The Tasmania Book Prize, for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre - $25,000 

The Margaret Scott Prize, for the best book by a Tasmanian writer - $5,000 

The University of Tasmania Prize, for the best book by a Tasmanian publisher - $5,000 

In the lead up to the announcement of the Prize winners on 4 April 2009, Arts Tasmania is delighted to offer a very special program of literary 

events, presented as part of Ten Days on the Island. Throughout the program, authors of the shortlisted titles will be in-conversation and 

presenting short readings. Top literary minds will also discuss publishing and new media, critical writing, place and identity in a free series of 

informative panel sessions.  This exciting program will be taking place April 1 - 4 at:  

The Commissariat Store, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 40 Macquarie Street, Hobart 

 The Margaret Scott Prize, Shortlised Authors In Conversation  

 Chair:  Patsy Jones, Executive member of the Children’s Book Council of Australia and judge of the Tasmania  

 Book Prizes 2009. 

Roslynn Haynes 

Tasmanian Visions: Landscaping in Art, Writing and Photography (Polymath Press, 2006) 

Roslynn Haynes is a graduate in both science and humanities and is most interested in inter-disciplinary 

studies. She was Vice-Principal of Jane Franklin Hall in the 1960s before travelling to the University of 

Leicester to do a PhD on the influence of science on H.G.Wells’s writings. From 1972-2000 she taught 

Literature at UNSW before returning to live in Tasmania . Roslynn has published six books and many 

book chapters and has worked as a consultant for the BBC on two produtions. Roslynn is now an 

Honorary Fellow at the University of Tasmania and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. 

Warren Boyle (representing Simon Kleinig) 

John Thwaites: Pioneer Tasmanian Bushwalker and Conservationist (Forty Degrees South, 2008) 

Warren Boyles spent almost 7 years as submariner in the Royal Australian Navy. He taught physics and 

geology for many years and in 1996 started 40°South magazine, of which he is still the owner and editor. 

He is a keen student pilot. 

Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 

Closing Hell’s Gates: the Death of a Convict Station (Allen & Unwin, 2008) 

Hamish Maxwell-Stewart was born in Nigeria in 1962. After completing his Ph.D. at the University of 

Edinburgh in 1991 he went to work for the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, University of 

Glasgow. In 1996 he migrated to Tasmania and now lives with his wife Clare in the Glebe, Hobart. He is 

particularly interested in the history of convict transportation and teaches at the University of Tasmania 

where he is an associate professor. 

Thurs 2 April, 12 noon

Publishing and New Technologies 

From the popularity of zines and small independent presses to the web culture of online literary 

magazines, blogging, the e-book and virtual communities, contemporary literature is in the process 

of redefining itself in the digital world. The Panel will explore such issues as: the future of the book, 

the possibilities of digital media in reaching new audiences, increasing participation in literature 

through the use of new technologies and the opportunities and barriers faced when experimenting 

with new media.  

Chair:  Ralph Crane, Head of School of the School of English, Journalism and European Languages, 

and the Deputy Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Tasmania. 

Sarah Howell 

Sarah Howell is a visual artist and cultural producer who develops participatory arts projects. Her 

areas of interest are: drawing, zine (small handmade magazines) and comic book culture, psychogeography 

and social technology.  A graduate of the University of Tasmania’s Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring 

in sculpture, in 2007 Sarah was awarded one of only five Emerging Producer in Community(EPIC) 

grants from the Australia Council for the Arts and is currently one of the 2009/10 Co-Directors of 

the National Young Writers’ Festival.  You can read Sarah’s blog at http://barleyhush.blogspot.com 

Craig Norris 

Craig Norris is a lecturer in the Journalism, Media and Communications program at the University of 

Tasmania. He graduated with a PhD from the University of Western Sydney in 2004, and studied at Tokyo 

University from 1999-2001 on a Monbusho research scholarship. His dissertation examined global media 

through the dissemination of Japanese cultural goods (particularly animation and comic books) into Australia 

and the resulting production of hybrid texts combining magazines, websites, DVDs and comic books by 

various communities in Australia for local and global audiences. Craig has developed a comprehensive 

knowledge of Political Economy and Cultural Studies approaches which he has applied to debates over 

the cultural ownership of global commodities and the use of new media by youth cultures. 

Therese Fingleton 

Therese Fingleton has over a decade of ICT experience - as a project manager, a consultant and a web 

producer.  Currently, Therese is the Digital Strategy Project Manager at the Australia Council for the Arts. 

Therese managed ‘Story of the Future’; a federal education and development program to support writers 

and producers of interactive digital content to develop new media projects. She recently commissioned 

and co-authored a guide to the craft and business of new media writing; Choose Your Own Adventure: 

The Writer’s Guide to Making a Digital Living.  Therese has also produced http://www.visualarts.net.au; 

presented at the Screenworks New Media Incubator, Connecting UP and Making Links conferences. 

Program of Literary Events 

April 2 

Thurs 2 April, 1pm

Tasmania Book Prizes 2009 

Program of Literary Events 

April 3 

Tasmania has a strong literary identity, being home to many fine novelists, poets, writers and publishers of non-fiction in a variety of 

genres including history, environment, art, photography and biography.  The Tasmania Book Prizes are a biennial suite of prizes, delivered by 

Arts Tasmania in partnership with the University of Tasmania.  The prizes recognise, promote and encourage the increasingly active and 

popular Tasmanian publishing industry and are awarded in the following categories: 

The Tasmania Book Prize, for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre - $25,000 

The Margaret Scott Prize, for the best book by a Tasmanian writer - $5,000 

The University of Tasmania Prize, for the best book by a Tasmanian publisher - $5,000 

In the lead up to the announcement of the Prize winners on 4 April 2009, Arts Tasmania is delighted to offer a very special program of literary 

events, presented as part of Ten Days on the Island. Throughout the program, authors of the shortlisted titles will be in-conversation and 

presenting short readings. Top literary minds will also discuss publishing and new media, critical writing, place and identity in a free series of 

informative panel sessions.  This exciting program will be taking place April 1 - 4 at:  

The Commissariat Store, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 40 Macquarie Street, Hobart 

 The Tasmania Prize, Shortlised Authors In Conversation 

 Chair: Cassandra Pybus,  Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow at the University of Sydney, well   

 known author,  chair  of the Tasmania Book Prizes 2009 judging panel. 

James Boyce  

Van Diemen’s Land (Black inc., 2008) 

James Boyce is a Hobart based historian, writer and sometime social worker.  He has written extensively on 

Tasmanian history, and actively participated in the so called ‘history wars’.  More recently James wrote 

the Tasmanian chapter for First Australians, based on the influential SBS series.  Van Diemen’s Land, the 

product of seven years hard labour (including a PhD from UTAS), has also been short listed for the Age 

Book of the Year, and in the Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian Premier’s Awards. James is 

currently working on the history of another Van Diemonian outpost, the city of Melbourne. 

Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 

Closing Hell’s Gates: the Death of a Convict Station (Allen & Unwin, 2008) 

Hamish Maxwell-Stewart was born in Nigeria in 1962. After completing his Ph.D. at the University of 

Edinburgh in 1991 he went to work for the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, University of 

Glasgow. In 1996 he migrated to Tasmania and now lives with his wife Clare in the Glebe, Hobart. He is 

particularly interested in the history of convict transportation and teaches at the University of Tasmania 

where he is an associate professor. 

Roslynn Haynes 

Tasmanian Visions: Landscaping in Art, Writing and Photography (Polymath Press, 2006) 

Roslynn Haynes is a graduate in both science and humanities and is most interested in inter-disciplinary 

studies. She was Vice-Principal of Jane Franklin Hall in the 1960s before travelling to the University of 

Leicester to do a PhD on the influence of science on H.G.Wells’s writings. From 1972-2000 she taught 

Literature at UNSW before returning to live in Tasmania . Roslynn has published six books and many 

book chapters and has worked as a consultant for the BBC on two produtions. Roslynn is now an 

Honorary Fellow at the University of Tasmania and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. 

Fri 3 April, 12 noon

Critical Writing 

What contribution does the reviewer make to our collective and informed consciousness, has this 

role changed in recent times? Where does the responsibility lie, to the audience or to the artwork. 

Is there a difference between personal and informed criticism, can you separate the two? Why do 

people listen, do you have to be a practising artist to be valid. Is there such a thing as toxic criticism, 

what is it? How do you operate in small communities and what is the point of reference. 

Chair: Chris Gallagher, Director of the Tasmanian Writers’ Centre. 

Maurice O’Riordan 

Maurice O’Riordan is the editor of Art Monthly Australia (AMA). He has been a freelance arts writer/ 

critic and curator over the past 15 years, for numerous Australian publications and for overseas titles 

including the Art News Magazine of India, Art & Deal and Asian Art News. Before joining AMA, he was a 

publicist with the NT Writer’s Centre, Darwin. 

Alison Croggon 

Alison Croggon is a Melbourne writer. She is a prize-winning poet whose work is published extensively 

both in Australia and internationally. Her most recent poetry collection is Theatre (Salt Publishing 

2008). She is also a best-selling fantasy novelist, whose Books Of Pellinor quartet has generated critical 

and popular acclaim the UK, the US, Europe and Australia. Her libretti and plays have been produced 

around Australia, including on ABC Radio National and the Perth and Melbourne International Arts 

(blogspot.com) and is Melbourne theatre reviewer for the Australian. 

Seán Kelly 

Seán Kelly is a writer, curator and arts administrator.  He has worked in a wide range of areas including 

teaching at HSC and University levels, Program Officer at Arts Tasmania, Director of Contemporary 

Art Services Tasmania and Programme Manager and Curator at the National Sculpture Factory in Cork, 

Ireland. Seán initiated and was editor of the journal ‘Contemporary Art Tasmania’. He coordinated and 

edited the book Cork Caucus, and has recently published a monograph on artist Raymond Arnold. 

Seán has written numerous catalogue essays, articles and regularly contributes reviews for journals such 

as Circa (Ireland), Art Monthly, Art and Text, Artlink and Photofile. 

Program of Literary Events 

April 3 

Fri 3 April, 1pm

Tasmania Book Prizes 2009 

Program of Literary Events 

April 4 

Tasmania has a strong literary identity, being home to many fine novelists, poets, writers and publishers of non-fiction in a variety of 

genres including history, environment, art, photography and biography.  The Tasmania Book Prizes are a biennial suite of prizes, delivered by 

Arts Tasmania in partnership with the University of Tasmania.  The prizes recognise, promote and encourage the increasingly active and 

popular Tasmanian publishing industry and are awarded in the following categories: 

The Tasmania Book Prize, for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre - $25,000 

The Margaret Scott Prize, for the best book by a Tasmanian writer - $5,000 

The University of Tasmania Prize, for the best book by a Tasmanian publisher - $5,000 

In the lead up to the announcement of the Prize winners on 4 April 2009, Arts Tasmania is delighted to offer a very special program of literary 

events, presented as part of Ten Days on the Island. Throughout the program, authors of the shortlisted titles will be in-conversation and 

presenting short readings. Top literary minds will also discuss publishing and new media, critical writing, place and identity in a free series of 

informative panel sessions.  This exciting program will be taking place April 1 - 4 at:  

The Commissariat Store, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 40 Macquarie Street, Hobart 

 Sat 4 April, 3pm Readings by the The Tasmania Prize Shortlised Authors  

 4pm   Prize Announcement 

The Tasmania Prizes Shortlist 

James Boyce  

Van Diemen’s Land (Black inc., 2008) Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 

Closing Hell’s Gates: the Death of a  

Convict Station (Allen & Unwin, 2008) 

Roslynn Haynes 

Tasmanian Visions: Landscaping in Art, Writing  

and Photography (Polymath Press, 2006) 

The Margaret Scott Prize Shortlist 

Roslynn Haynes 

Tasmanian Visions: Landscaping in Art, Writing  

and Photography (Polymath Press, 2006) 

Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 

Closing Hell’s Gates: the Death of a  

Convict Station (Allen & Unwin, 2008) 

Simon Kleinig 

(represented by Warren Boyle) 

John Thwaites: Pioneer Tasmanian Bushwalker and 

Conservationist (Forty Degrees South, 2008) 

The University of Tasmania Prize Shortlist 

Lynne Andrews 

Antarctic Eye: the Visual Journey (Studio One, 

2007) 

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery 

(represented by Peter Huges) 

Collection: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery 

(Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 2007) 

Helen Davies  

For the Record: James Benell’s Buildings in Early 

Launceston (Terrace Press, 2006) 

  This calendar of public readings, writers' workshops and other events is brought to you courtesy of the Tasmanian Writers' Centre. Please read the disclaimer at the bottom of this page. Looking for a great read? Then Read Tasmania.

 *****************************

Writers’ Festivals

Sydney Writers Festival  May 18 - 24
http://www.swf.org.au/

Mildura Writers' Festival (to be held mid July)                                                                                                     

www.mwaf.com.au/writers/

Queensland Poetry Festival                                                                                                                                                                                   

21, 22, 23 August                                                                                                                                           

www.queenslandpoetryfestival.com/

Byron Bay Writers' Festival                                                                                                                                                                                  

7 - 9 August      

 http://byronbaywritersfestival.com.au/v1/index.php                                                                                                                       

DISCLAIMER: Please note that the TWC cannot and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information provided herein. All individuals are advised to independently substantiate details before committing to attend any event referred to in this calendar. If you have an arts event which you would like to promote on this website please email the details -in the above format; that is Day, Date, Time, Venue, then Who, What, Where & How much - to admin <at> tasmanianwriters.org