Romanian-born German writer Herta Mueller won the prestigious 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature saying Nicolae Ceausescu's brutal dictatorship compelled her to write of how a powerful few can dominate and destroy a nation. The Swedish Academy paid tribute to Mueller "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed." Mueller, who charted the brutality and oppressiveness of Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship, was lost for words when she learnt she had won the prize. Mueller is known for works such as "The Land of Green Plums" which she dedicated to Romanian friends killed under Ceausescu's Communist rule and "The Appointment" in which a Romanian woman sews notes saying "Marry Me" into suits of men bound for Italy.

Arts Minister Peter Garrett has announced the 15 Australian books shortlisted for the 2009 Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Minister Garrett said the Awards, now in their second year, have again recognised an outstanding collection of must-read Australian titles. Fiction shortlist: The Pages - Murray Bail, People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks, Wanting - Richard Flanagan, Everything I Knew - Peter Goldsworthy, One Foot Wrong - Sofie Laguna, The Boat - Nam Le, The Good Parents - Joan London, Non-Fiction shortlist: Van Diemen's Land - James Boyce, Doing Life: A Biography of Elizabeth Jolley - Brian Dibble, Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History - Jenny Hocking, The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island - Chloe Hooper, House of Exile: The Life and Times of Heinrich Mann and Nelly Kroeger-Mann - Evelyn Juers, Drawing the Global Colour Line - Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds, The Henson Case - David Marr, American Journeys - Don Watson. Visit www.arts.gov.au/pmliteraryawards for details of the shortlisted books. More than 250 entries were received for the 2009 Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Winners receive a tax free prize of $100,000 each in the fiction and non-fiction categories.

Author Christos Tsiolkas has won another prize for his book The Slap - the one about the child who gets slapped by an adult (not- related) at a suburban Melbourne BBQ. The novel has won the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards: Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction. In making their final selection the judges were particularly attracted to novels that exhibited originality, energy and a distinctive voice. The shortlist included The Pages by Murray Bail, Dog Boy by Eva Hornung, The Boat by Nam Le and Breath by Tim Winton. Go to the State Library of Victoria website to read the full list of award winners.

Follow the footprints......

We are celebrating Children's Book Week - the longest running children's festival in Australia, celebrating its 64th birthday in 2009. The theme in 2009 is... Book Safari. Come and follow the animal footprints to see the 2009 Children's Book Council of Australia Award winning books on display along with lots of toy jungle animals to delight children.

The Book of the Year for Older Readers is Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan, and the Book of the Year for Younger Readers is Perry Angel's Suitcase by Glenda Millard and illustrated by Stephen Michael King and the Picture Book of the Year is Collecting Colour by Kylie Dunstan. For a full list of award winning books please visit the Children's Book Council of Australia website www.cbc.org.au And don't miss local author Charlotte Calder reading her book Stuck! at Storytime tomorrow at 11am and launching her book at 6pm.

Winner of the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award is Tim Winton for his work Breath (published by Penguin). On his win, Tim Winton said that this award has tried to do its part over time to stiffen the resolve and bolster the confidence of Australian writers and by honouring local stories and voices it's contributed to the success our literary culture has enjoyed in recent years. Commenting on the winner's novel, the Judging Panel wrote: "Breath is a searing document about masculinity, about risk, and about young people's desire to push the limits. Winton is at the height of his powers as a novelist, and this is his greatest love letter yet to the sea, to the coast of West Australia, and a compelling testimony to the role of surfing in Australian culture. Written in Winton's own distinctive voice, we can sense that it is also a homage to some of his favourite writers: Salinger, Faulkner, Melville and Hemingway. But as we are drawn in by the elemental currents of its narrative and the compelling, wave-like force of events, Breath raises disturbing questions about desire and 'the damage done'. What lines are crossed during rite's passage? What ethical constraints affect relations between different generations of men and women? Throughout the novel we hear the scream of wind and storm waves and the distant, siren call of the bombora – surf breaking far out at sea. After 'so much damage, too much shame', can there be a going back?" To read more about the author and awards go to the Miles Franklin Trust website http://www.trust.com.au/awards/miles_franklin/

Central West Libraries Manager Jan Richards said environment and relationship themes emerged across all the sections during the judging process in the 2009 Banjo Paterson Writing Awards. The Awards recognise Orange's literary history and further encourages writers to develop their craft. Congratulations to all the entrants and here are the winners:

Prose/ Short Story: Peter W. Bishop, of Scone, NSW for "Lukey"; Panagiotis Papathanasiou, of Hackett, ACT, for "The Lure": Sarah Michell from Lithgow, NSW for "Going Without".

Open Poetry: Judy Johnson, Cardiff, NSW for "The Bushranger's Bible"; Mark Miller, of Shoalhaven Heads, NSW for "Small-Town Journal"; Jo Mills, of Darlington, WA for "Ledge Beach".

Bush Poetry: Ron Stevens, of Dubbo for "The Shame of Staying Put"; Ellis Campbell, of Dubbo, NSW, for "Eulogy of Crows"; Kristen Martin, of West Beach SA, for "Memories by the Murray".

Children's Writing Awards: Isaac Bath, of Duramana NSW for his poem "Bushfire"; Samuel Bath, of Duramana, NSW for his poem "Ducks of the Wild"; Rebekah Ritchie, of Forest Reefs, NSW for her story "The Climbing Experts".

The Yvonne Zola Encouragement Award goes to Lachlan Fenemor, Orange for his story "Doggie Adventure".

And the winners of the World Environment Day Community Arts Competition are Primary – Freya Hawke; Primary – Elizabeth Bilton – Highly Commended; Primary Group – Orange Public School 6J (Penguins - see picture); Primary Group – Orange Public School 3N – Highly Commended; Secondary – Ayla Manwaring; Adult – Stephen Nugent and Adult – Yvette Black – Highly Commended. Entries were judged by Orange Art Gallery Director Alan Sisley and Orange City Librarian Elizabeth Barry. The competition is an initiative of ECCO (Environmentally Concerned Citizens of Orange) and Orange City Council. Come and see all the entries on display at Orange City Library for the next week. There are landscapes, poems, stories, a globe, robots, collages, drawings and lots of recycled materials put to artistic use. Freya Hawke was excited to learn she had won for her work called Environmental Helpers. She demonstrated how it works and the environmental tip I received was "to help save petrol walk or ride instead of taking the car". I think I can do that. And a tip from the Library is to splurge $1 on a Library Bag and you'll never have to use a plastic bag again.

Canadian writer Alice Munro is the winner of the third Man Booker International Prize announced today. The Man Booker International Prize is worth £60,000 to the winner and is awarded once every two years to a living author for a body of work that has contributed to an achievement in fiction on the world stage. Munro is best known for her short stories and is one of Canada's most celebrated writers. Her stories frequently appear in publications such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Grand Street, Mademoiselle, and The Paris Review. Her latest collection of short stories, Too Much Happiness, will be published in October 2009. The judging panel said "Alice Munro is mostly known as a short story writer and yet she brings as much depth, wisdom and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels. To read Alice Munro is to learn something every time that you never thought of before." To read more about the author and award visit http://www.themanbookerprize.com/

The NSW Premier's Literary Awards honour both new and familiar writers, and the novels, poems, biographies, histories, plays and screenplays that have delighted readers of all ages since 1979. Vietnamese-born writer Nam Le has won both Book of the Year and an award for New Writing at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. The prizes were awarded for his debut novel The Boat - a collection of short stories that travel through different times and places. Mr Rees praised The Boat for portraying borders between cultures as superficial. "The author acknowledges that nations and cultures differ, often in profound ways. Yet through the small brushwork strokes that set each of his worlds in motion, he draws out what is common to all cultures - a longing for dignity and acceptance, the love of family and the desire for a better life," Mr Rees said. Steve Toltz's A Fraction Of The Whole was awarded the People's Choice Award for Fiction. Joan London's The Good Parents took out the top prize for fiction and Chloe Hooper's The Tall Man - about the death in custody of a Palm Island man - won the non-fiction category. The awards were presented by Premier Nathan Rees at the New South Wales Art Gallery in Sydney last night. For the full list of 2009 NSW Premier's Literary Awards and Translation Prize winners go to http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/ Congratulations to all.

US President Barack Obama won the Tesco Biography of the Year at the 2009 Galaxy British Book Awards in London (known has nibbies for the pen-shaped award given to winners - visit http://www.britishbookawards.co.uk/index.asp?. His Dreams from My Father beat off competition from big sellers Paul O'Grady, Dawn French and Julie Walters. More recently he is in the news for what he is reading. CNN reported President Obama wanted a change from reading his briefing papers and turned to the novel Netherland by Irish writer Joseph O'Neill (See http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/29/what-is-president-obama-reading) The book is about cricket in post 9/11 New York where Hans, a banker originally from the Netherlands, finds himself marooned among the strange occupants of the Chelsea Hotel after his English wife and son return to London. Hans stumbles upon the vibrant New York subculture of cricket, where he revisits his lost childhood and, thanks to a friendship with a charismatic and charming Trinidadian named Chuck Ramkissoon, begins to reconnect with his life and his adopted country. Ramkissoon, a Gatsby-like figure introduces Hans to an "other" New York populated by immigrants and strivers of every race and nationality. Sales of the book have shot up 40 per cent since Obama's mention and its paperback release was brought forward. Now there could be another big O (adding to Oprah) in the world of book promotion. Wonder what Kevin Rudd is reading? Budget papers?