JCU picks ‘Edenglassie’ for $50,000 2024 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award

Edenglassie, a ‘Queensland epic’ about lived experiences more than five generations apart, has received a $50,000 literary award from JCU.

Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko

Edenglassie, a ‘Queensland epic’ centred on twin tales of Indigenous characters set five generations apart and their shared experiences, has received a $50,000 literary award from James Cook University.

JCU chose Edenglassie for the 2024 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award because of its “exceptional quality” of writing on “Queensland’s colonial past and a reimagined Australian future”.

Ms Lucashenko recognised when accepting her award that despite her book being set in Brisbane, it borrowed a lot from North Queensland’s past.

“Though I hail from the south and my books are mostly set on Bundjalung Country, I’ve had a longstanding connection to Far North Queensland and Townsville in particular. My kinship family have roots in Palm Island, Yarrabah, Hopevale and elsewhere on The Cape,” Ms Lucashenko said.

“Edenglassie was strongly influenced by these bama mobs’ much more recent, and distinctly northern, experiences of colonisation. It’s therefore particularly gratifying to see my novel recognised in this award at JCU.”

Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko

The Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award has the broadest scope of any national literary competition, recognising “outstanding achievement in all forms of writing”.

According to JCU, the Roderick award helps to achieve its namesakes’ goals of developing the writing and reading of Australian literature by recognising books that will make a lasting contribution to our culture.

Originally published as JCU picks ‘Edenglassie’ for $50,000 2024 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award