Image: www.milesfranklin.com.au
The Miles Franklin Award has a complicated relationship with women writers. Founded by one of Australia’s finest literary talents, its legacy is rooted in the disadvantages faced by women in literature. When Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin’s first book My Brilliant Career was rejected for publication in Australia only to be later published under ‘Miles Franklin’, she decided then on to keep her gender a secret and adopt the non de plume in the hope that her work would be better received.
Her will left provision for the foundation of a literary prize that would encourage the ‘advancement, improvement and betterment of Australia Literature’. Diversity can only advance and improve Australian writing, yet over its 58-year history, the Miles Franklin Award has been won just 17 times by a woman, with four all-male shortlists.
How Stella has changed Miles
The Miles Franklin Award has garnered a reputation as a prize for blokes and stories of the bush, but have initiatives such as the Stella Prize seen the award better the gender imbalance?
25 Jun 2015 12:00
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