ONE of Australia’s greatest writers who lives in Goroke has earned top honours in a prestigious literary award.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Gerald Murnane was named the winner of the Prime Minster’s Literary Award for his fiction novel, Border Districts.
He has won numerous awards over his four decades-long career and has now added yet another accolade to his accomplishments.
Mr Murnane has written a total of 11 fiction works since his debut novel Tamarisk Row in 1974, along with a collection of essays called Invisible Yet Enduring Lilacs.
The Melbourne-born author moved to of Goroke in 2009.
His latest and award-winning work, Border Districts followed a man who – similar to Gerald – moves from Melbourne to a small town in the Wimmera where he intends to spend the last years of his life. Mediating on fragments of the narrator’s past, the novel explores the border land between life and death.
Mr Murnane previously told the Wimmera Mail-Times that the idea for the novel started with a dream.
“I dreamed one night about coloured glass and I took to thinking of the meaning the coloured glass had to me at different times in my life,” he said.
“So I set out to write about a book with coloured glass in mind and Border Districts was the result.
“Coloured glass reminds me of the glass marbles I used as a child to play imaginative games with. The glass marbles were very important in my first work of fiction Tamarisk Row.
“Glass marbles remind me of church windows and religion was an important part of my life as a child.
“Coloured glass reminds me of the windows in houses of a certain vintage, it also reminds me of things I can’t describe in words and that was the driving force behind my novel.”
While you’re with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox twice weekly from the Wimmera Mail-Times. To make sure you’re up-to-date with all the news from across the Wimmera, sign up below.
