Well, there you go. Roger McDonald has won the Miles Franklin award, for The Ballad of Desmond Kale, chosen from a shortlist of five out of a field of more than 50 nominated books.
Good on ‘im. I haven’t read Desmond Kale yet, but I could never see what all the fuss was about over 1915 – on the other hand, the main character, in particular, in Mr Darwin’s Shooter was really very finely drawn.
Also on the shortlist were Kate Grenville’s The Secret River (she’s won every other prize, so thank goodness someone else got a go), Carrie Tiffany’s Orange Prize-nominated Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living, Brian Castro’s The Garden Book and The Wing of the Night by Brenda Walker.
But never mind the kulcha. The Socceroos are through to the next round of the World Cup.