Jason Steger, Literary Editor, The Age
They say good things come in threes and for London-based Australian writer Evie Wyld that certainly seems to be the case.
On Thursday night she topped off a remarkable few days when she won the Miles Franklin, Australia’s most significant literary prize, worth $60,000 and a fillip to sales here and overseas.
Wyld, whose writing has been likened to a cross between novelists Nicola Barker and Christos Tsiolkas, will be able to keep a track on some of those sales as she runs an independent bookshop in south-east London.
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The other writers shortlisted for the Miles were four-times winner Tim Winton (Eyrie), former winner Alexis Wright (The Swan Book), punters’ favourite Richard Flanagan (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), second novelist Cory Taylor (My Beautiful Enemy), and debut novelist Fiona McFarlane (The Night Guest).
All the Birds, Singing has parallel stories set in different times with each chapter alternating between Britain and Australia. The main character, Jake Whyte, is a woman running a farm on a bleak island off the English coast. But something or someone is killing her sheep.
