WA writers listed for Miles Franklin award

WA's reputation as a powerhouse of Australian literature was cemented yesterday when a former columnist for The West Australian, Jon Doust, and 2009 Indie Book of the Year Award winner Craig Silvey made the long list for the $42,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award, won last year by WA author Tim Winton.

"When I was told, I just laughed," said Doust, whose semi-autobiographical novel Boy on a Wire follows the adventures of young Jack Muir and his friends in a Perth boarding school.

"I thought there were 50 on the list. Then somebody said there were only 12. Suddenly I had difficulty breathing. I was stunned."

Also long-listed are eminent Australian writers such as Tom Keneally, Peter Carey, Peter Temple, Sonya Hartnett and Alex Miller.

"It's such a privilege to be mentioned with those luminaries," Silvey said. "I don't have any training. All I have to go on is instinct and what naturally works."

Silvey's novel Jasper Jones, which created a sensation when it was published last year, is a Southern Gothic coming-of-age story set in rural WA.

It follows the efforts of 13-year-old Charlie Bucktin to help town outcast Jasper Jones solve a terrifying mystery.

The announcement lends more substance to speculation that Silvey may well become the next Tim Winton. Silvey is more circumspect. "When I've got four Miles Franklins in my pocket like Tim has, you can start making those comparisons," he joked.