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Richard Flanagan Wins Man Booker
Congratulations to Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan on winning the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
Richard Flanagan is the first Tasmanian and only the fourth Australian to win the prestigious award. He must now surely rate as the greatest Australian novelist of his time.
The novel tells the very personal story of Mr Flanagan’s father, Arch, who was a prisoner of war and survived forced labour on the Burma Railway during World War II.
It also brings readers to our island, taking them from Ben Lomond to Ferntree, with a vivid account of the 1967 bushfires.
The judging panel described the novel as a magnificent work of theatre its author was born to write.
To win the Man Booker Prize is fitting recognition of Richard Flanagan’s outstanding talent and remarkable writing career.
Will Hodgman, Premier