Melissa Lucashenko's novel Edenglassie won the ARA Historical Novel Society Australasia's A$100,000 (about US$66,220) adult novel prize, one of the richest literary awards in Australia, just a day after winning the A$50,000 (about US$33,110) Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary award, the Guardian reported.
"I've made more money from writing in the past two days than I have in the past three decades," said Lucashenko.
The Historical Novel Society judges described the First Nations writer's work, which has now won seven awards as a "fiercely original exploration of Australia's past and its enduring consequences," and "an ambitious, epic novel that cracks what the author calls the 'racist myth-making' that has painted Aboriginal people so negatively.... Written with the wit, heart and intelligence that define Lucashenko's work and here amount to virtuoso storytelling, Edenglassie [is] a timely work that enriches the landscape of historical fiction."
The Historical Novel Society Australasia awards recognize the outstanding literary talents of novelists who "illuminate stories of the past, providing a window into our present and the future." Beverley McWilliams was named winner of the A$30,000 (about US$19,865) children and YA category for Spies in the Sky.