Australian fiction has long been interested in the relationship between the local and the global – and the six books shortlisted for this year’s Miles Franklin Award are no exception. They range across time and place, from Tasmania to Malaysian Borneo and the Middle East. And they engage with histories of empire, environmental ruin, migration, ageing, political activism and war.
There is a striking willingness to experiment with form. Some authors borrow from poetry or genre fiction, while others draw on avant-garde traditions and techniques. Some novels overplay their hand; not every formal innovation succeeds. But the judges have clearly rewarded books that attempt something distinctive, rather than settling for familiar literary realism.
