South Australian author Jennifer Mills shortlisted for Miles Franklin Award

Published in 2018, Mills’ third novel Dyschronia explores the impact of a climate change-related environmental event on a coastal town, and a protagonist grappling with her perception of time. Described in our 2018/19 summer reading list as “a vitally important book for understanding the urgency of environmental action” by Writers SA director Jessica Alice, Dyschronia is Mills’ first work to be shortlisted for the Award. Winner of the 2014 Barbara Hanrahan Fellowship and named Best Young Australian Novelist by the Sydney Morning Herald, Mills has written widely for the Sydney Review of Books, The Lifted Brow, Meanjin, The Griffith Review and is fiction editor of literary journal Overland.

Announced at the Mitchell Library of NSW yesterday, Mills is shortlisted alongside five other authors including past winner Rodney Hall, the previously longlisted Gail Jones and Melissa Lucashenko, and Mills’ fellow first-time finalists Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Gregory Day.

Presented by the Copyright Agency and Perpetual, the 2019 judging panel includes author and critic Dr Bernadette Brennan, State Library of NSW Mitchell Librarian Richard Neville, journalist Murray Waldren, author and critic Dr Melinda Harvey and Sydney bookseller Lindy Jones.

The final result is set to be announced on July 30, with the winner receiving $60,000 in prize money and a place among Australian literary giants like Patrick White, Ruth Park, Tim Winton and Thea Astley. Each of the shortlisted authors also receive $5,000.

2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist

The Lebs by Michael Mohammed Ahmad
A Sand Archive by Gregory Day
A Stolen Season by Rodney Hall
The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones
Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko
Dyschronia by Jennifer Mills

Header image:
Pan Macmillan