A tiny Tasmanian publisher’s very first book has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, marking an extraordinary debut for both the author and the micro-press behind it.
Konrad Muller’s My Heart at Evening is the first novel by the former diplomat and the first title from Evercreech Editions, founded by Adam Ouston in Hobart.
The book is now in contention for the $60,000 prize, one of the most prestigious in Australian fiction.
Muller grew up in Melbourne, studied Arabic in Egypt and was posted as an Australian diplomat to Cairo and Tel Aviv.
He now works on a small family vineyard in northern Tasmania.
Ouston said the shortlisting far exceeded his expectations for the new publishing company.
“When I started Evercreech Editions I hoped we’d get a few readers and do a few fun events,” he told Pulse.
“To be shortlisted for the Miles is well beyond anything we dared imagine.”
“It’s testament to the judging panel they look further afield than the majors.”
“In fact, it seems the best work often comes from the smaller outfits these days.”
Ouston himself was long listed for the award in 2023 for for his debut novel, Waypoints.
He said he believed Muller’s writing was worthy of being the first book Evercreech released.
“I knew Konrad’s book was good and wanted it out in the world,” he said.
“I’m thrilled that others think so too.”
He thought the challenge would be reaching readers beyond Tasmania but he said the response had been strong nationwide.
“Tasmania has an excellent dedicated readership, and I felt Konrad’s book was something that would appeal to them,” he said.
“The trick so I thought, was getting across Bass Strait, but we’ve had equal enthusiasm from right around the country.”
The shortlist also includes Discipline by Randa Abdel-Fattah, the Australian-Palestinian academic whose appearances at Sydney and Newcastle writers festivals sparked fierce debates over free speech and political censorship.
Abdel-Fattah’s axing from Adelaide Writers’ Week triggered an authors’ walkout and the event’s cancellation.
She went on to win the People’s Choice Award at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards in February.
The winner will be announced in Sydney on August 5.
