The Miles Franklin Literary Award was established by prolific author and feminist Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, now best known for her first novel My Brilliant Career. First presented in 1957, the Award celebrates novels of the highest literary merit that tell stories about Australian life. Winning authors also receive a prize of $60,000. The award remains Australia’s most prestigious and valued literary award.

The 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist is:

• The Lebs by Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Hachette Australia
• Flames by Robbie Arnott, Text Publishing
• Boy Swallows Universe, by Trent Dalton, HarperCollins Publishers
• A Sand Archive, By Gregory Day, Picador Australia
• Inappropriation By Lexi Freiman, Allen & Unwin
• A Stolen Season, By Rodney Hall, Picador Australia
• The Death of Noah Glass, By Gail Jones, Text Publishing
• Too Much Lip, By Melissa Lucashenko, The University of Queensland Press
• Dyschronia, By Jennifer Mills, Picador Australia
• The Lucky Galah, By Tracy Sorensen, Picador Australia

“The 2019 Miles Franklin longlist yet again highlights a mixture of new and established writers. It showcases ten of the most vibrant voices of Australian fiction speaking to us of lives facing, or having endured, some version of extremity. Angry, funny, contemplative and urgent, these voices – which include a galah – explore personal, historical and ecological loss, cultural inheritances and disenfranchisement, and the fraught bonds of friendships, families and communities,” said Richard Neville, State Library of NSW Mitchell Librarian.

The judging panel comprises, Richard Neville – Mitchell Librarian of the State Library of NSW and Chair, Murray Waldren – The Australian journalist and author, book critic Dr Melinda Harvey, Sydney-based bookseller, Lindy Jones and author and literary critic Dr Bernadette Brennan.

Perpetual’s General Manager of Community & Social Investment, Caitriona Fay, commended the longlisted authors.

“The Miles Franklin Award has long supported the multitudinal and multifaceted perspectives of Australian culture and society through the lens of the most talented authors this country has to offer.

“Perpetual is proud that it has been able to create an enduring legacy for Miles Franklin as trustee of this award and we encourage those who want to be part of that legacy to become a friend of the award via the Franklin Support Fund. We commend the ten authors who have been selected as the longlist for the 2019 Miles Franklin Award,” said Ms Fay.

Last year, the Miles Franklin Literary Award was awarded to Michelle de Kretser for her novel, The Life to Come (2018). She was previously bestowed the award in 2013 for her novel, Questions of Travel (2012). The shortlisted finalists will be revealed on Tuesday 2 July at the State Library of New South Wales. The winner announcement will be made on Tuesday 30 July in Sydney.

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The independent research conducted by Ipsos ASI Australia launched today at FPA National Conference in Brisbane, described the FPA advertising as “strong on appeal, attention-grabbing and providing a relevant message”. 

“[The advertisements were] also working well to promote a positive impression of FPA planners as hard-working, creating wealth and instilling confidence in investing,” the research concluded. 

Mark Rantall, FPA Chief Executive, said the advertising campaign had exceeded expectations with the TV message reaching almost 80 per cent of the target audience at least once and over half of the target viewers at least three times. 

“This is an extraordinary result for a campaign that is relatively small scale in financial services terms, and has undoubtedly lifted the profile of financial planners and the relevance of the FPA across Australia,” Mr Rantall said. “Taken across the whole multi-media campaign we’ve achieved an additional $1 million of value out of a total spend of $1.7 million.” 

FPA print ads reached two-thirds of the target audience at least once and 32 per cent of the targeted group at least three times, which was also above forecast, said Lindy Jones, FPA General Manager, Marketing. 

“The print ads reached almost 40 per cent of the total Australian population,” Ms Jones said. “At the same time, the online display advertising generated a ‘click-through’ rate four times above the average for the finance industry, proving that Australians are hungry for trusted sources of good advice, while also delivering tangible, direct response dividends for our advertising spend on behalf of members. 

”The online campaign activity resulted in the FPA website experiencing over 20,000 unique visits resulting in more than 1,500 ‘Find-a-Planner’ searches.’ 

‘Ms Jones said that awareness of the advertising increased by 36 per cent while awareness of the FPA brand increased by 14 per cent, as measured by a survey of 620 targeted consumers conducted by Australian Online Research. 

“For a campaign that ran over 6 weeks on a $2 million budget, our expectations were for modest, single digit increases in brand awareness.  These results are exceptional and we attribute them largely to the simplicity of the concept and clarity of the messaging.”

The campaign also helped lift the reputation of the financial planners as a whole, according to the research, with the proportion of positive consumer impressions of the industry increasing by a third after viewing the FPA ads. 

“While the ad campaign has cemented the FPA’s position as the leading professional body for financial planners, the entire industry has benefited from a positive spin-off,” Ms Jones said. 

Launched in September, the FPA’s national consumer advertising campaign is fully funded by individual members and reinforces the importance of choosing a financial planner who is a member of the FPA.  Recently completed, the campaign ran nationally across metropolitan and regional TV and print media, as well as a range of online websites, and included a Google Search Engine Optimisation strategy.

Over 1,000 delegates are attending the FPA Conference held this week in Brisbane.

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