Geraldine Pascall Foundation


This is the first year that the process of judging the Pascall Prize winner was a virtual one. The frequent emailing of lengthy disquisitions on the merits and problems of candidates as well as the judging process produced a body of criticism of its own, criticism both trenchant and subtle, and highly illuminating.

There is nothing virtual about the winner, however. He is Andrew Riemer, finally the judges' unanimous choice. He is perhaps best known by his byline as the Sydney Morning Herald's Chief Book Reviewer, but he is much more than a literary critic, though that is an important role, paying attention to established writers and new ones, to overseas writers little known in this country, and particularly to the contexts in which a literary culture might flourish. But above all he demands of his readers that we enter into a dialogue on nothing less than the nature of civilisation.

This is most clearly seen in his latest book, Between the Fish and the Mudcake, in which his musings on the works of Wagner, the writings of Patrick White, or Georges Perec, the nature of cities, or the academic study of Shakespeare are just a few of the preoccupations that provide a beautifully crafted examination of how people might live.

He is no mere recycler or populariser of ideas, though their dissemination can be one of the useful functions of his work. He thinks carefully and with clarity about them, and it is for this thinking that his work is to be valued. His prose is plain, but deceptively so; it is lucid, elegant, intelligent, precise, and subtle, with a restraint that may at times disguise its passion. It is the perfect vehicle for his ideas, which continue to resonate in the mind.

His judgments are severe, but compassionate, aware of contexts on both the grand and small scales. To read him regularly and attentively is to join him as a fellow participant in the great conversation of Western civilisation.
1999 Judges
Bruce Elder
Andrew Ford
Marion Halligan
Jill Kitson
Adrian Martin
Adrian Read (Convenor)