Category Archives: Awards and prizes

Alexis Wright wins $60,000 Melbourne literature prize

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The Waanyi writer, who won the Miles Franklin award and Stella prize this year for her novel Praiseworthy, has been recognised for her body of work and contribution to Australian culture

Alexis Wright has been awarded the $60,000 Melbourne prize for literature, capping off an extraordinary year in which she has won more than $200,000 in prize money after the publication of her epic novel, Praiseworthy.

The Melbourne prize for literature, awarded every three years, recognises a Victorian writer whose “body of published work has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and to cultural and intellectual life”. Past winners include Christos Tsiolkas, Alison Lester and Helen Garner.

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Bafta to revoke future winners’ awards in cases of serious criminal convictions

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Academy unveils new ‘forfeiture process’ after review prompted by case of disgraced Bafta winner Huw Edwards

The British Academy of Film and Television will be able to strip future winners of their awards in cases of “proven dishonesty” or if they’re convicted of a serious criminal offence.

New provisions added to the Bafta rulebook give the body the power to retrospectively revoke competition honours, starting with winners in 2025.

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Steph Wilson wins Taylor Wessing photography prize with striking portrait

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National Portrait Gallery announces £15,000-winning portrait that conveys atypical image of motherhood

A portrait documenting an unconventional and “imperfect” example of motherhood has won one of the world’s most prestigious photography prizes.

The National Portrait Gallery has named the British photographer Steph Wilson as winner of the 2024 Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize for her portrait Sonam. The photographer, who works between London and Paris, wins £15,000.

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Beyoncé leads Grammy award nominations with 11 nods

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The star is out in front with multiple genre recognition for Cowboy Carter while Kendrick Lamar, Charli xcx, Post Malone and Billie Eilish follow

Beyoncé is out in front with the nominations for the 67th Grammy awards in what promises to be another female-heavy year.

The star has scored 11 nods for her country album Cowboy Carter with recognition in the country, pop and Americana categories. It’s the biggest number of nominations she has received in a single year and she now holds the joint record of most-nominated artist ever alongside her husband, Jay-Z.

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Shetland man’s bond with otter becomes subject of award-winning film

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Documentary about Billy Mail’s connection with orphaned pup Molly airs on National Geographic next week

National Geographic will be streaming a new documentary about an unlikely bond between a man and an otter in Shetland.

Billy Mail met Molly, a starving pup, in 2021 when he saw her jumping off a pontoon into the sea near his Shetland home. Mail wanted to see how close he could get to her before she fled. But it turned out that Molly had no intention of running away.

Billy and Molly: An Otter Love Story will be available from 14 November on Disney+, and will air on 15 November on National Geographic

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Pedro Almodóvar and Jacques Audiard lead European Film Awards nominations

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Emilia Peréz and The Room Next Door are both up for honours in prizes regarded as Oscars bellwethers

A genre-bending musical about a trans cartel boss and a Spanish veteran director’s English-language debut lead the nominations for this year’s European Film Awards, with Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Peréz and Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door both up for honours in four categories.

The French and Spanish auteurs gained nominations for best film, best director and best screenwriter, the European Film Academy announced on Tuesday ahead of this year’s ceremony in the Swiss lakeside city of Lucerne on 7 December.

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Imprisoned British-Egyptian activist named PEN writer of courage 2024

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Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who is still in jail in Egypt despite completing his five-year sentence, was selected by PEN Pinter winner Arundhati Roy

British-Egyptian writer, software developer and activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been named this year’s PEN writer of courage. The 42-year-old is still in prison in Egypt, despite having completed his five-year sentence for allegedly “spreading false news”.

“Let’s remember that this is an innocent man who has committed no crime, but even so, he will have served his time on 29 September,” Abd el-Fattah’s sister, Sanaa Seif, said last month.

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South Korean author Han Kang wins the 2024 Nobel prize in literature

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Han, whose works include The Vegetarian, was praised for her ‘intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life’

The Nobel prize in literature has been awarded to 53-year-old South Korean novelist Han Kang for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life”. Her works include The Vegetarian, The White Book, Human Acts and Greek Lessons.

“I was able to talk to Han Kang on the phone,” said Swedish Academy permanent secretary Mats Malm after announcing the winner. “She was having an ordinary day it seemed – had just finished supper with her son. She wasn’t really prepared for this, but we have begun to discuss preparations for December” – when Han will be presented with the Nobel prize.

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Nadia Davids wins Caine short story prize for ‘triumph of language’ Bridling

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The South African author’s work was described as ‘an impressive achievement’ by chair of judges Chika Unigwe

South African writer Nadia Davids has won this year’s Caine prize for African writing for her short story Bridling, described as a “triumph of language” by the chair of judges.

The prize, worth £10,000, is awarded annually to a short story by an African writer. Bridling, originally published in The Georgia Review in 2023, is told from the point of view of a female actor performing with other women in a show staging artworks by men that depict women. The story will be published in the Caine prize anthology, Midnight in the Morgue and Other Stories, to be published by Cassava Republic Press in the UK.

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Shōgun makes Emmys history as Hacks, The Bear and Baby Reindeer triumph

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Period epic is first non-English language series to win for best drama as Netflix’s controversial breakout hit takes home four awards

Shōgun has made Emmys history as the first ever non-English language series to win for best drama.

The historical epic, based on the 1975 novel, picked up four awards during the evening, including Emmys for lead stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, the first Japanese actors to win their respective awards.

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Shōgun and Baby Reindeer set to dominate the Emmys – the second ceremony in 2024

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Eugene and Dan Levy set to host this weekend’s big TV awards where historical drama series and controversial Netflix miniseries are predicted to be big winners

Big-budget epic Shōgun is set to become a historic winner at this weekend’s Emmy awards, a ceremony that itself is also making history.

It’s the second Emmys in the same year, an unprecedented and expensive challenge for the industry, a traffic jam insisted by last year’s dual strikes which led to a postponement.

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Logie awards 2024: ‘television’s most axed man’ Larry Emdur takes gold

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Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe wins big at Australian television’s biggest night, as ceremony broadcaster Seven takes a battering from host Sam Pang

The Morning Show presenter Larry Emdur has reflected on once being “television’s most axed man” after winning the Gold Logie at the Logie awards on Sunday night.

“I’ve never done anything else, and I’ve never wanted to do anything else,” said Emdur, after winning his first Logie in a 40-year career in which he has fronted everything from The Price Is Right to Celebrity Dog School.

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Alice Munro knew my stepfather sexually abused me as a child, says Nobel laureate’s daughter

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Andrea Robin Skinner says her stepfather sexually assaulted her when she was nine, but her mother said she ‘loved him too much’ to leave him

The daughter of Nobel prize winner Alice Munro, Andrea Robin Skinner, has alleged that her stepfather sexually abused her as a child, and that her mother stayed with him even after he admitted to the abuse.

Skinner revealed the allegations in an essay and a news article in Canada’s Toronto Star on the weekend, writing about how her stepfather, Gerald Fremlin, began sexually assaulting her in 1976 when she was nine years old and he was in his 50s.

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Miles Franklin award 2024: Alexis Wright continues dream run as shortlist announced

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Much-lauded Praiseworthy joins works by Gregory Day, André Dao, Sanya Rushdi, Jen Craig and Hossein Asgari competing for Australia’s highest literary honour

Alexis Wright continues her dream run with the acclaimed novel Praiseworthy, one of six books announced as the shortlist for the 2024 Miles Franklin literary award, Australia’s highest literary honour.

Announced on Tuesday, the other five books up for the $60,000 prize are Gregory Day’s The Bell of the World, André Dao’s Anam, Sanya Rushdi’s Hospital, Jen Craig’s Wall and Hossein Asgari’s Only Sound Remains.

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Oscar invitees: Lily Gladstone, Celine Song and Catherine O’Hara among those offered Academy membership

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Da’Vine Joy Randolph and the director and cast of Anatomy of a Fall are also among the 487 new artists and executives to judge the Academy Awards

Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone, Past Lives director Celine Song, and actors Jessica Alba, Catherine O’Hara and Fiona Shaw are among the 487 artists and entertainment executives invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organisation announced on Tuesday.

Other invitees included Past Lives actors Greta Lee and Teo Yeo, Bottoms filmmaker Emma Seligman, New Zealand actor Rachel House – best known for her collaborations with Taika Waititi – and French director Alice Diop, whose feature debut, the legal drama Saint Omer, became an international festival darling in 2022.

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King’s birthday honours list 2024: from a nun who spent 26 days outside parliament to ‘Australia’s job queen’

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Refugee advocate Sister Jane Keogh, rich lister Sarina Russo, Asio chief Mike Burgess and ex-premiers Dan Andrews and Mark McGowan among award recipients

Two former state premiers, a veteran refugee advocate and one of Australia’s richest women are among the hundreds of Australians to receive awards in this year’s King’s birthday honours.

While there are plenty of notable names sprinkled among the 737 Australians recognised, the governor general, David Hurley, noted that “the vast majority” are those quietly making a huge impact in their communities.

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‘Realities of apartheid’: South African artist wins Deutsche Börse photography prize

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Lebohang Kganye blends oral traditions, family photos and theatre in a ‘new and fresh way’ to trace personal history of apartheid era

The South African artist Lebohang Kganye has won the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation prize for her work that uses large-scale cutouts and elements of set design to trace and depict her family history during the apartheid era.

The Johannesburg-based artist took home the £30,000 prize for her winning exhibition, which is on display at the Photographers’ Gallery in central London and is called Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home.

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Aya Nakamura thanks fans for support over Olympics racism as she wins awards

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French singer dedicates top prizes at Les Flammes ‘to all black women’ after backlash over rumoured Paris show

The French pop star Aya Nakamura, who found herself at the centre of a racist row after rumours she was going to sing at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, has thanked fans for their support after winning three big prizes at France’s Les Flammes awards for rap, R&B and pop.

“I’m very honoured because being a black artist and coming from the banlieue is very difficult,” Nakamura told the audience at the ceremony, which she opened with a medley of her songs. She dedicated her awards – female artist of the year, pop album of the year, and international star of the year – “to all black women”.

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Writers withdraw from PEN America literary awards in support of Gaza

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Authors and translators say PEN America has ‘had no criticism of American complicity in the bombardment of Gaza’, in stark contrast to other national centres of the organisation

Thirty-one authors and translators have withdrawn their work from consideration for or declined PEN America’s 2024 literary awards over the organisation’s “failure to protect” Palestinian writers in Gaza.

Nine out of 10 longlistees for the PEN/Jean Stein book award, worth $75,000 (£60,143), have withdrawn their books. Christina Sharpe, Catherine Lacey and Joseph Earl Thomas are among the withdrawing writers.

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Alexis Wright nominated for $60,000 Stella prize for second time

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Judges have described the Waanyi writer’s fourth novel Praiseworthy as ‘a canon-crushing Australian novel for the ages’

Stella prize winner Alexis Wright has been nominated for the $60,000 award a second time, for her 700-page “canon-crushing” novel Praiseworthy.

The Waanyi writer won the Stella prize, intended to reward the work of Australian women and non-binary authors, in 2018 for her biography Tracker.

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