Playwright takes out 2003 Premier's Book Awards

4/6/04
Local playwright Reg Cribb took out the top prize in this year's Western Australian Premier's Book Awards - the prestigious $20,000 Premier's Prize - for his play 'Last Cab to Darwin'.
It is the first time that a script has won the Premier's Prize since it was inaugurated in 1992.
Dr Gallop said the judges described the play as an exceptional play for our time.
They said: "He explores traditional topics like small-town life and rural decline along with the contemporary debate on voluntary euthanasia..This is a masterful work that continues to linger in the mind."
Reg Cribb also won the award in the Script category.
The winners in other categories of the 2003 Premier's Book Awards each won $7,500.
Fiction
Brett D'Arcy for The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks
Poetry
John Kinsella for Peripheral Light
Non fiction
Old Fremantle by John Dowson; and
Stephen Kinnane for Shadow Lines
Children's Books
Mark Greenwood for The Legend of Lasseter's Reef
Writing for Young Adults
Colin Bowles for Nights in the Sun
Script
Reg Cribb for Last Cab to Darwin.
Mark Greenwood has established himself as a major children's writer, winning the Children's Books category for the second year in a row. Last year's winning title was 'The Legend of Moondyne Joe'.

The 2003 awards celebrated the role of public libraries in the community, bringing together the joint themes of the Year of the Built Environment and 50 years since the first free public library was opened in 1954 in York.
"People want libraries to be in their midst and today's libraries are a communal gathering place and an important part of the construction of social capital," Dr Gallop said.
The Premier also stressed the importance of fostering children's interest in reading and developing literacy skills.
"Children need exposure to a wide variety of high-quality books of various topics in order to acquire literacy skills, and in particular books in which they can see themselves. Today's children's books reflect the society in which our young people live, with different family situations as well as our multicultural society", Dr Gallop said.
There were 115 entries in the 2003 awards, with 24 works short-listed.
This year's judging panel was Dr Simon Adams, Professor Brian Dibble, Mr Zoltan Kovacs and Ms Suzanne Wyche.
The awards were inaugurated by the Western Australian Government in 1982 to honour and celebrate the literary achievements of WA writers.
More information about the awards, including past winners and the judges report, can be found on the State Library's website at http://www.liswa.wa.gov.au/pba.html
Premier's office: 9222 9475