Monday, July 07, 2008


FRANK O'CONNOR INTERNATIONAL SHORT STORY AWARD

Jhumpa Lahiri wins with her Unaccustomed Earth.





4 comments:

Rachael King said...

Interesting parallel here with the Montanas - except in the Frank O'Connor case they decided there would be no shortlist at all!

Beattie's Book Blog said...

I don't see a parallel at all actually Rachael.
The Director of the Award, Patrick Cotter, speaking yesterday said:

“With a unanimous winner at this early stage we decided it would be a sham to compose a shortlist and put five other writers through unnecessary stress and suspense. Not only were the jury unanimous in their choice of Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth as the winner, they were unanimous in their belief that so outstanding was Lahiri’s achievement in this book that no other title was a serious contender.”
With the Montana NZ Book Awards the judges said that they did not want to "dilute the awards" by nominating a fifth title for the shortlist.
There is a bog difference between the two approaches.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you, Graham. The Frank O'Connor judges were honest. Our local ones - well, there is still doubt and discussion about what really went on between Freeman, Corballis, and Elworthy. Rumours are flying. Whatever the situation really was, they strangely chose an insulting way to explain their decision. Some are saying that this whole affair has damaged the Montanas. Maybe so. It has at least shown a real need for another set of NZ book awards that genuinely acknowledges literary merit.

Rachael King said...

Not an exact parallel, then, but the announcement seems to have provoked a similar response.