The Blue Plateauhas been shortlisted in the nonfiction category of the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. The prize—which pays $100, 000 (but who’s counting?) and was introduced to encourage Australians to take literature as seriously as, say, cooking—is by far the biggest in the land.

So it’s a thrill to see my love child of a book recognised—alongside works by Shirley Walker, David Malouf and Alex Miller, for example

Even if the country weren’t engaged on an election campaign just now the winners wouldn’t be announced for a couple of months. The prize tries to let attention fall on all the shortlisted books (in the four categories) for a nice long while.

Check the shortlists and read the judges’ citations here: http://www.arts.gov.au/books/pmliteraryawards10