Winner of “The Australian” / Vogel’s Literary Award 2017 announced

The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award is one of the most prestigious awards in Australia for an unpublished manuscript. Congratulations to Marija Peričić, who was just announced tonight as the 2017 winner – and must be feeling on top of the world!

From the press release:

Marija Peričić has won the 2017 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award with her novel The Lost Pages, an inspired fictional memoir of Czech writer Max Brod. The Award was presented in Sydney this evening [26 April 2017] by writer Benjamin Law.

It is 1908 and Max Brod is the rising star of Prague’s literary world. Everything he desires—fame, respect, love—is finally within his reach. But when a rival appears on the scene, Max discovers how quickly he can lose everything he has worked so hard to attain. He knows that newcomer, Franz Kafka, has the power to eclipse him for good, and he must decide what lengths he will go to hold onto his success.

The Lost Pages is a richly imagined story of the friendship, fraud, jealousy and betrayal within an extraordinary literary rivalry. As one judge noted, “the author really understands how tension works. It never lets up. From the very beginning, the strain between Kafka and Brod is hugely entertaining. Brod is anti-social and prefers his own company, just like the best of Kafka’s characters. He is drawn with remarkable clarity.”

This year’s judges were Stephen Romei (literary editor, The Australian), Rohan Wilson (award-winning author of The Roving Party and To Name Those Lost) and Jenny Barry (bookseller from BooksPlus, Bathurst). The Lost Pages was the judges’ clear choice to win.

The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award is Australia’s oldest, richest and most prestigious prize for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under thirty-five years. In addition to the $20,000 prize, the winner is guaranteed an advance against royalties for publication with Allen & Unwin. The Award has launched the careers of some of Australia’s most successful writers, including Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Gillian Mears, Mandy Sayer, Andrew McGahan and Rohan Wilson.

Established in 1980, The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award changes young writers’ lives. Between them, many Vogel’s-winning authors have gone on to win or be shortlisted for other major awards, such as the Miles Franklin Award, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Booker Prize and numerous Premier’s Literary Awards.

Marija Peričić grew up in Perth, Western Australia, the child of German and Croatian immigrants. She now lives in Melbourne where she teaches English as a foreign language. The Lost Pages is her first novel.