Melissa Lucashenko wins 2019 Miles Franklin for Too Much Lip

The Bundjalung author’s hard-hitting novel wins Australia’s most prestigious literary award.
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Melissa Lucashenko accepts the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award. Photo: Courtesy of Miles Franklin Literary Award/Belinda Rolland.

The 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award has been awarded to Bundjalung novelist Melissa Lucashenko for Too Much Lip.

Published by University of Queensland Press, Too Much Lip focuses on the Salters, an Aboriginal family living in a fictional small town in country New South Wales. Evocative and incisive, the story digs deep into the legacies of colonial and interpersonal violence while showcasing Lucashenko’s trademark wit, deft characterisation, and genius for dialogue. It’s a great Australian novel that doesn’t shy away from the rot in the nation’s foundations and how it eats into all of our relationships.

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Jinghua Qian
About the Author
Jinghua Qian (they/them) is a Shanghainese writer, poet and provocateur living in the Kulin nations. Their work has appeared on stages, pages and airwaves including Melbourne Writers’ Festival, SBS, Popula, Overland and The Guardian. Formerly the Head of News at Sixth Tone, an English-language media outlet based in Shanghai, and a broadcaster with 3CR Community Radio’s Queering the Air, Jinghua currently serves on the board of Asian-Australian arts and culture magazine, Peril. Twitter: @qianjinghua LinkedIn: qianjinghua