9/6/07
Illustrator Shaun Tan's book titled 'The Arrival' has won the Premier's Prize in the 2006 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards.
Culture and Arts Minister Sheila McHale presented Mr Tan's parents with a $20,000 prize. Bing and Christine Tan collected the prize for Shaun who was overseas, at last night's awards presentation.
Ms McHale said the judges had described Mr Tan's book as an 'intriguing and elegant artwork', which captured intimate personal moments and the 'vast scale of human movement across time, space and cultures'.
"The judges said the groundbreaking 128-page wordless picture book/graphic novel used sepia toned illustrations to tell of a journey which drew the viewer deeply into the immigrant experience," she said.
"'The Arrival's' storytelling was considered by the judges to be a beautifully designed book which conveyed a universal message of hope and humanity."
Shaun Tan also took out the Children's Book Award category.
The Minister said that these book awards had attracted a record number of 158 entries.
"The awards were inaugurated by the WA Government in 1982 to honour and celebrate the literary achievements of the State's writers," Ms McHale said.
The Premier's Book Awards category winners, who each won $7,500, included:
Fiction
Simone Lazaroo - The Travel Writer
Pan Macmillan Australia
Poetry
Dennis Haskell - All the Time in the World
Salt Publishing
Non-fiction (two awards)
Quentin Beresford - Rob Riley: an Aboriginal Leader's Quest for Justice Aboriginal Studies Press; and
Peter Edwards - Arthur Tange: Last of the Mandarins
Allen & Unwin
West Australian History
Bobbie Oliver and Patrick Bertola - The Workshops: A History of the Midland Government Railway Workshops
UWA Press
Children's Books
Shaun Tan - The Arrival
Hachette Livre Australia
Writing for Young Adults
Kate McCaffrey - Destroying Avalon
Fremantle Arts Centre Press
Script
Hellie Turner - Sardines
Tropic Sun Theatre Queensland
More information, including past winners and the judges' report, is available on the State Library's website http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/pba.html
Minister's office - 9213 6900
