The Bannerman Shortlist

The Bannerman Shortlist has been announced. Six authors. Six stories. And Gideon Bannerman is missing.

Releasing in August, Colin Batrouney’s new novel features six authors shortlisted for the famous Bannerman Prize for Literature.

First time author Isobel Dalby is convinced that she’s a fraud. Veteran literary giant Martin Gillray wants to be taken out of contention. Julian Adagoke’s text-message novel may not be what it seems. Catherine Adler is certain that her book, a savage critique on the colonising past of the British Empire doesn’t stand a chance. Kai Noguchi’s prose holds a terrible secret. And Alex Kosco is rehearsing his acceptance speech.

Woven into these stories is Natasha Moubray’s desperate search for her friend of over 50 years, Gideon Bannerman, who disappears on the day the shortlist is announced.

By turns, funny, moving and occasionally shocking, The Bannerman Shortlist recognises that at the beating heart of all creative endeavour lies passion, empathy, truth and a tender humanity.

Author: Colin Batrouney

Paperback  Published 1 August 2023  284 pages

Read and Recommended by Graeme;

"Six novels have been selected for the prestigious Bannerman literary prize. Six authors and each with a compelling personal story. And then there is Gideon Bannerman, whose father established the trust and prize in 1956 when he was seeking election to parliament. He lost resoundingly, yet the literary prize endured over the decades that followed. The great achievement of Colin Batrouney is to tell all of these different stories and never lose the engagement of the reader. As it is not easy to be telling one character’s story, then abandon them for another character, and then another character...and carry the reader along with you every time. Yet he does so triumphantly. Stringing all of these stories together is the plot strand built around Gideon and his life-long friend the academic and author Natasha Moubray who is the Chair of the prize. Gideon lives a privileged life due to his family’s fortune (built on the sugar trade) but he has always had a penchant for rough trade. When he becomes entangled with Yuri, a tattooed Ukrainian ‘businessman’, Natasha is alarmed and suspicious. Nine years later, Gideon mysteriously disappears and Yuri swoops in as his sole heir. The novel comes with praise from several revered Australian authors (Christos Tsiolkas, David Marr) and it is praise that is thoroughly deserved. Anyone with an interest in literary culture will find this book astute, amusing and entertaining while also being an absolute page-turner." 

‘Batrouney’s new novel is an exquisite joy, one of the most pleasurable books I have read in ages. The joy is in the elegance and assurance of the writing, in the sophistication and wit of the satire, and in the richly imagined characters and narrative. What a pure delight! I wanted to stay within its pages for the longest time.’ CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS

‘A wicked invention, and very, very funny.’ DAVID MARR