2012 T.A.G. Hungerford Award
Presented with the support of the
Friends and Family of the late Bill Warnock
Tom Hungerford Bill Warnock
(1915-2011) (1934-2001)
The 2012 T.A.G. Hungerford Award pays tribute to two West Australian literary icons.
After more than a decade of invaluable sponsorship from New Edition Bookshop, the T.A.G. Hungerford Award has now moved into a new era with the recent announcement that the 2012 Award will go forward with the generous support of the Friends and Family of the late Bill Warnock.
This group of passionate individuals - Peter Dowding, Nicholas Hasluck, Janet Holmes à Court, Angela Skinner, and Diana Warnock - have generously donated the 2012 Award's cash prize of $12,000, to ensure this important literary Award will continue for another year.
Diana Warnock, wife of the late Bill Warnock, said "In making this donation to the 2012 T.A.G. Hungerford Award, we celebrate the bonds of friendship and a love of literature shared between Tom Hungerford and Bill Warnock, whilst also honouring the great contributions that both men made to Western Australia's literary heritage. What more appropriate arena could there be in which to celebrate the creativity and generosity of spirit that each man demonstrated through his lifetime?"
Dedicated to recognizing and nurturing emerging voices in Western Australian literature, the T.A.G. Hungerford Award is a biennial award that celebrates literary merit and originality, and is given for a full length manuscript of fiction or creative non-fiction, by a Western Australian author unpublished in book form. In addition to the cash prize, the Award also provides publication of the winning manuscript with Fremantle Press.
The conditions and entry form for the 2012 T.A.G. Hungerford Award can be downloaded here.
The 2012 T.A.G. Hungerford Award is presented in partnership with:
Tom Hungerford (1915 - 2011)
Tom Hungerford has been described as one of "the Grand Old Men of Australian Literature". In 1987 Tom Hungerford was made a member of the Order of Australia. In 2002 he was the recipient of the Patrick White Award and in 2004 he was declared a Western Australian State Living Treasure.
T.A.G. Hungerford was widely admired as a quintessential West Australian writer and identity. He was a major contributor in helping Western Australians define their sense of self and place in a rapidly changing world. His writing captured the very essence of who they were and the way in which they interacted with each other on a daily basis.
As forthright and generous in his person as in his writing, Tom was proud to have the unique WA award for debut writers, the T.A.G. Hungerford Award, named for him when it was established in 1998. He was always a great supporter of new and emerging writers.
Tom Hungerford died last year at the age of 96.
Bill Warnock (1934 - 2001)
Bill Warnock, who first arrived in Western Australia with his parents at the age of 14, became a powerful voice in Western Australian culture. A passionate and prolific writer, his output included screenplays, musicals, poetry and fiction. His novel Frozen Secrets was shortlisted for the WA Premier's Book Award for Fiction in 1998, while his plays, The Judgement of Paris and Something Rotten in the State of Denmark were performed in Sweden, Paris and Los Angeles. Bill's extraordinary contribution to Western Australian cultural life was also evidenced in other endeavours including his passionate involvement in CityVision, promoting discussion about cultural, artistic and heritage issues relevant to Perth, and in his roles as a longstanding member of the Board of Perth's annual arts festival and as the Chair of the Film and Television Institute.
T.A.G. Hungerford Award Winners:
1990 - Brenda Walker; Crush
1991 - Gail Jones; The House of Breathing
1993 - Simone Lazaroo; The World Waiting to be Made
1995 - Bruce Russell; Jacob's Air
2000 - Christopher Murray; A Whispering Fish
2002 - Nathan Hobby; The Fur
2004 - Donna Mazza; The Albanian
2006 - Alice Nelson; The Last Sky
2008 - Natasha Lester; What is Left Over, After
2010 - Jacqueline Wright; The Telling