Local author and Curtin Associate Professor Kim Scott has once again been recognised as one of the top literary talents in Australia, after taking out the prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award for his novel That Deadman Dance.
It’s the second time Scott has been honoured with the $50,000 prize, after becoming the first Indigenous Australian writer to receive the accolade with his 1999 novel Benang: From the Heart.
That Deadman Dance examines the relationships between British colonists, American whalers and the local Nyungar population as they all converged on the “friendly frontier” of Western Australia’s south-west in the early 19th century.
The novel has also been shortlisted for Australia’s oldest literary prize, the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal, for Book of the Year.
The award marks the fourth time a Curtin alumnus has received the Miles Franklin Literary Award since 2000, with renowned author Tim Winton winning two of his four awards in 2002 and 2009.
Associate Professor Scott works within the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute. Read his staff profile here.
