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THE
WINNER OF THE 2009 PASCALL PRIZE IS ….
The
Pascall Prize is
Australia
’s foremost Award for reviewers and critics.
Nominee genres for 2009 include literature, performing arts, design,
media, politics, film and television cuisine and wine.
Alison Croggon is this year’s winner, announced Saturday 23 May
following a lively debate titled “Should the Critic be Fired?” - part of the
Sydney Writers Festival program.
Alison runs http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com/
a totally independent theatre review blog and also contributes to The Australian
group litblog Sarsaparilla.
She lives in
Melbourne
, is the theatre reviewer for The
Australian and
irregularly reviews books for ABC Radio National’s The Book Show
and is founding editor of the literary arts ezine
www.masthead.net.au
A poet, novelist and critic, Alison has an abiding interest in theatre as
both practitioner and critic. She
has been a panellist for the Green Room Awards since 2007.
As a member of the 2005/6 Artistic Counsel for the Malthouse Theatre, she
offered criticism and feedback at the end of each season as part of the
theatre’s process of self-assessment. Her
poetry has been published widely in anthologies and magazines in
Australia
and overseas. Her most recent collection, Theatre,
was published by Salt last year.
The judges said “At a
time when newspapers and magazines are reducing the space devoted to critical
writing,
Alison Croggon
is one of a small number of commentators who has adapted to the new
opportunities of online criticism, while maintaining a presence in a mainstream
newspaper. She can criticise, without patronising, understanding that a critic
must back up opinion with analysis. Croggon’s newspaper criticism is precise
and efficient, using the limited space to be informative but still entertaining
- you understand why she has made her judgements, but she also allows the reader
sufficient room to make up her or his own mind about a work.
Croggon
has embraced the benefits of the online medium, conscientiously responding to
the often-divergent comments made on her blog and encouraging debate. In this
way she has acknowledged the changing nature of the contemporary critic, a role
that is shifting away from the assertion of opinion to a mute audience, and
towards the curation of a public conversation.”
The judges, carefully chosen for
their understanding of the writing medium in all its contemporary forms by the
Geraldine Pascall Foundation Board were
Kath Eltham, Robert Forster, Leo Schofield AM and Rosemary Sorensen with Adrian
Read as convenor
The
Pascall Prize is named after Geraldine Pascall, a popular and prolific writer
and critic in the fields of art, film and food who left this earth a lot earlier
than she intended – whilst still in her 30’s and at the prime of her career.
The award was initially funded by her estate.
For
previous winners and more detail on the Pascall Prize, go to http://www.mostlyopera.org.au/pascall/index.htm
For
further information contact Adrian Reed aread@wineiq.com
on 0418417132 or Rea Francis info@rfmedia.com.au
0414250790
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