From The Age
The shortlist for Australia’s richest writing prize has just been announced. The Melbourne Prize for Literature will be presented on Wednesday 15 November, and totals $60,000 in cash and travel. It’s awarded to a Victoria-based writer for published or printed work that has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and intellectual and cultural life.

The finalists are Helen Garner, John Marsden, Alex Miller, Hannie Rayson and Dorothy Porter. There is also an additional prize of $30,000 for an exceptional work by a Victorian writer under 40.