The Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature (NSW Premier’s Awards)

The contenders for the NSW Premier’s Awards have been announced, including the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature:
The contenders are:

• Urusla Dubosarsky & Tohby Riddle (Illustrator) – The Word Spy
• Bob Graham – How to Heal a Broken Wing
• Sonya Hartnett and Ann James (Illustrator) – Sadie and Ratz
• Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King (Illustrator) – Perry Angel’s Suitcase
• Tohby Riddle – Nobody Owns the Moon
• Shaun Tan – Tales from Outer Suburbia

I haven’t come across all of these, but I love anything by Tohby Riddle and Nobody Owns the Moon is an enchanting book, so I hope it does well.

However, the real purpose of this post is to celebrate the work of Patricia Wrightson, a children’s author I discovered when I was at Teachers’ College. She writes with a distinctively Australian voice, creating memorable fantasies which can make your skin crawl when you’re out in the Aussie bush. Try reading The Nargun and the Stars, and then visit the Den of Nargun in Gippsland. and you’ll see what I mean! The book won the CBCA Book of the Year Award in 1974 and it is unforgettable. This video is made with photos from our trip there in 1992:

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