‘Refugee’ on Manus Island wins more than $100k and top Australian literary award, despite not being Australian
A ‘refugee’ on Manus Island has won a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award despite not being an Australian citizen or a permanent resident. Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish journalist, took out the non-fiction section, scoring $25,000, before going on to win the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature, which is said to be the most valued literary award in the country. Conditions for entry stipulate that authors must be Australian citizens or permanent residents, however organisers decided to make an exception for Boochani. .@BehrouzBoochani’s book No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison (@picador_aus) wins the Prize for Non-fiction. https://t.co/ItWrk9C6Jt #vpla2019 pic.twitter.com/3fkyOuTBu5…