And the Winner Is …
… Young Adult books!
Though the literary world seems abuzz with Man Booker fever over a novel that sounds like Stephen Hawking meets Psycho, the #LoveOzYA community is celebrating the winners of the Inky Awards. (I’m sure the MB prize winner is a great book; I’m just excited by the Inkies.) If you haven’t heard of the Inkies, don’t despair. Once upon a time no one had heard of the Man Booker Prize either – or the Oscars.
The Inky Awards are bestowed through The Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria, who promote reading as “not just something that is done as school work” and “an active, pleasurable and essential activity for all young people”. One of their projects is Inside a Dog, a website which promotes young adult literature, showcasing both Australian writers and their work and the cream of international YA literature.
Why “Inside a Dog”? It comes from a Groucho Marx quote:
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read.”
The name of the award comes from the Inside a Dog mascot, Inky, the all-round wonder-dog. The Gold Inky is awarded to a book by an Australian author while the Silver Inky is awarded to a book by an international author.
So, who are the winners for 2015?
The Gold Inky winner is:
The Intern,
by Gabrielle Tozer
The Intern is great book, a contemporary story of a girl in her first year of university who is pushed out of her comfort zone by an internship at a fashion magazine as part of her course requirement. You can read my review of The Intern here. Congratulations Gabrielle!
The Silver Inky winner is:
Fangirl
by Rainbow Rowell
I haven’t read Fangirl yet but it’s on my list, and this has bumped it up quite a few places.
A quick look at the long list for this years awards shows the calibre of books that were in the running for the Inky Awards this year.
Though I’ve only reviewed Clariel by Garth Nix, the quality of books is amazing. It’s impossible to keep up with all the excellent YA being produced as well as Australian speculative fiction – and that’s great news for everybody.
Links
Inside a Dog Homepage
The process of nomination and judging the Inky Awards plus previous Long Lists, Short Lists and Winners, here
Gabrielle Tozer’s website
Rainbow Rowell’s website
Man Booker Prize 2015 Announcement