Had to post the breaking news ABC just reported: Tim Winton has won the 2009 Miles Franklin Award for Breath.
I think that makes Winton the only person to have won it four times- a well deserved distinction for a wonderful writer.
18 June, 2009...8:39 pm
Good on you Tim!
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17 Comments
18 June, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Four times! Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and now Breath.
Oh well, at least The Slap didn’t win it!
Lisa
18 June, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Thanks for the correction Lisa, I was so excited I forgot to proof read. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy Breath as I did.
I’m suprised but glad The Slap didn’t win it. It was interesting but not up to Breath for me.
19 June, 2009 at 12:13 am
Wow! Four times! I really should get round to reading one of his books. I have Dirt Music and Cloudstreet here.
I’m half way through The Slap, so am finding it amusing you are all so against it. I can see why it divides people – it is so ‘male’!!
19 June, 2009 at 2:40 pm
That probably means I should read my copy of Breath sooner rather than later but I have been saying the same thing about Grenville’s The Secret River AND The Lieutenant
I am not proving to be very patriotic in my reading this year.
20 June, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Not the only one – he now equals Thea Astley whom everyone forgets (except me, her devoted fan)!
20 June, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Oops, forgot to say that you might like to see my report on this win: http://whisperinggums.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/tim-winton-versus-thea-astley/
21 June, 2009 at 4:22 am
Yay for Tim. Awesome writer. So which one did you like the most? I think I preferred Dirt Music.
21 June, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Samantha, I hope you do read (and enjoy) Breath soon. I often buy books with the best of intentions and then leave them in the TBR pile as well- all of Grenville’s books have been thus neglected so far!
Hi Whispering Gums, I didn’t forget Thea, but as she won one MF jointly didn’t count her in. I’m off to read your report, I haven’t read Astley yet so will be interested to hear from a fan.
Pete, so far I think my favourite is Cloudstreet, but I have quite a few Winton books to go.
21 June, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Ah, devoted reader, I don’t agree that Astley’s four don’t count just because she shared awards (twice in fact). She still won four!! I will try to write her up in the next week or so…I am doing an occasional series on favourite writers. (Well, I’ve done two so far – does that make it a series?)
21 June, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Point taken whispering gums! I had a look at your series on your favourite writers, and wholeheartedly agree about Austen and Jolley so will look forward to the next on Astley.
21 June, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Thanks and so glad you agree re those writers. We clearly have some things in common … but now I feel a deadline coming on! Will try to get to it later in the week but please don’t hold your breath!
22 June, 2009 at 10:00 pm
I have two Tim Winton books on my shelf but have yet to read him, am hoping this summer will give me time to correct this obvious oversight!
23 June, 2009 at 7:26 am
I have heard such good things about Breath, and now I have just one more reason to go out and read it! Thanks for posting this.
13 July, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Thank you greatly for visiting mine and leaving a comment!
I’ve never seen this book but was inspired to look it up and saw it had 61 comments on amazon.uk. Must be worth a look, and I don’t often read Australian writers.
21 July, 2009 at 7:26 am
a belated response but just want to say how much I enjoyed Breath – it’s such a fantastic novel, so TomC and all the others: do go and get a copy before you go on holiday. It’s one of the best.
26 July, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I haven’t read a Tim Winton novel since ‘The Riders’, which doesn’t make sense as I loved that. Oh dear, the TBR pile just grew again.
27 July, 2009 at 10:29 am
Hi Ann, my TBR pile is ever expanding as well. Winton is certainly worth making the time for at some point though.