Australian's Vogel Literary Prize Unable to Find Winner

Posted on May 1, 2013

The Vogel Literary Prize, which is run by The Australian, failed to find an entry good enough to be the winner this year. The annual prize usually awards $20,000 plus publication by Allen & Unwin. It is open to Australian writers under age 35.

When prizes do not announce a winner at all it can be very upsetting to writers. However, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that the judges believe picking a winner just for the sake of having one could ruin the integrity of the Vogel prize.

The Herald reports that Geordie Williamson, a literary critic and one of the judges, told Fairfax Media, "If the award's going to count for anything there has to be times when [you don't award it]. There just wasn't the prize this year. If you're just spitting it out every year you're becoming part of the sausage factory."

Williamson also said he hopes some writers will tweak their entries and resubmit them for a future Vogel prize. Williamson wrote an article about the decision not to award the prize here.