18th October, 2018

Most Underrated Book Award 2018: shortlist announcement

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The Small Press Network is pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2018 Most Underrated Book Award. The Most Underrated Book Award is sponsored by the Australian Booksellers Association and aims to uncover and celebrate the hidden gems of Australian publishing.

The 2018 shortlisted titles are:

  • Gwen by Goldie Goldbloom (Fremantle Press)
  • Living in Hope by the late Frank Byrne with Frances Coughlan & Gerard Waterford (Ptilotus Press)
  • Plane Tree Drive by Lynette Washington (Midnight Sun Publishing)

All the 2018 submissions were notable for their geographic diversity and strong and visceral sense of place. The judges said the shortlisted books distinctively addressed their subjects and, despite vast differences in styles and genre, they all shared ‘a clarity of purpose and artistic flair’.

Since winning the award in 2017, Scale Free Network’s (SFN) The Invisible War: A Tale on Two Scales, has sold North American rights to Lerner Books’ imprint Graphic Universe. SFN co- founder and microbial ecologist Gregory Crocetti said that winning MUBA 2017 had a ‘huge impact’ on SFN’s visibility,  and that they had seen a significant increase in sales in the past year.

MUBA 2018 will be presented by Louise Swinn on the evening of Thursday, 22 November 2018, during the SPN’s Independent Publishing Conference. This free event will be hosted by the Wheeler Centre.

Bookings can be made here.

 

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