Barbara Jefferis Award
The Barbara Jefferis Award is an Australian literary award prize. The award was created in 2007 after being endowed by John Hinde upon his death to commemorate his late wife, author Barbara Jefferis. It is funded by his $1 million bequest. Originally an annual award, it has been awarded biennially since 2012.
Jefferis was an Australian writer, and a founding member and first female president of the Australian Society of Authors. She died in 2004. Australian author, Thomas Keneally, described Jefferis as "a rare being amongst authors, being both a fine writer but also organisationally gifted".
The award, which comprises $50,000 for the winner with $5,000 distributed amongst the shortlist, is one of Australia's richest literary prizes. It is awarded to "the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society". The novel can be in any genre and does not have to be set in Australia. The award does not specify the author's gender. It is administered by the Australian Society of Authors and is expected to rival the Miles Franklin Award and the biennial Tasmania Pacific Fiction Prize.
The prize was first awarded in 2008 to Rhyll McMaster for Feather Man.
Controversy
The announcement of the award caused a minor controversy in Australian literary circles due to its target. Susan Wyndham, journalist and literary editor, best summarises the issue in the questions opening her article in The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: "Does Australia need a new fiction award that encourages 'positive' portrayals of women and girls? Or is it an outdated gesture in a post-feminist culture rich with female authors, characters and readers?"Wyndham reports Rosalind Hinde, daughter of John Hinde and Barbara Jefferis, as saying that her father had "the very clear and strong intention to honour my mother's writing, her feminism and her devotion to other writers". Several writers have supported the award, including Tom Keneally, Helen Garner, Frank Moorhouse, Gerald Murnane, Anne Deveson, Kerryn Goldsworthy and Brian Castro. However, writer and critic, Andrew Reimer dislikes the idea of focusing on "social agenda" over "novelist's skill and imagination", and novelist Emily McGuire agreed, stating that she doesn't "like the idea of judging fiction based on its message". Author and critic, Debra Adelaide, expressed her concern that the award might encourage "safe and constrained" writing and wondered whether "we are getting to the point where we have more awards than publishing opportunities".
Winners
Each year's winners and shortlists, along with the past winners, are listed on the relevant Australian Society of Authors page.- 2008 – Feather Man, Rhyll McMaster
- 2009 – The Spare Room, Helen Garner
- 2010 – The China Garden, Kristina Olsson
- 2011 – Come Inside, G. L. Osborne
- 2012 – All That I Am, Anna Funder
- 2013 – not awarded. The 2014 award was for 2013/2014
- 2014 – Sea Hearts, Margo Lanagan
- 2014 – The Night Guest, Fiona McFarlane
- 2016 – Hope Farm, Peggy Frew
- 2018 – The Trapeze Act, Libby Angel
- 2020 – Wolfe Island, Lucy Treloar
- 2022 – Revenge, S. L. Lim
- 2024 – Songs for the Dead and the Living, Sara M Saleh
- 2024 – Days of Innocence and Wonder, Lucy Treloar