On Wednesday, 23 November, Waverley Council announced the winner of the 2016 Nib Waverley Award for Literature. The Nib award is one of Australia’s most prestigious Literary Awards and the only one run by a Local Council. The prize of $20.000 celebrates research excellence in the creation of literary work.

Waverly Council is pleased to announce that this year’s winner is:

Rachel Landers for “Who Bombed the Hilton”?

Rachel Landers is an Award-winning filmmaker and historian. Her book “Who Bombed the Hilton?” is the terrifying tale of the 1978 bombing outside Sydney’s Hilton Hotel – widely regarded as the first act of terrorism on Australian soil.

Her remarkable research of this still-unsolved case exposes corruption, conspiracy theories and political intrigue, and is a testament to the bombing’s victims.

On winning the Award Landers says “To be nominated amongst such peerless company has been a giddy experience. To have received the award is a delightful honour for which I am deeply grateful”.

Apart from the Nib award, an annual Military History Literary Prize of $3000 is also awarded for literary works that illustrate Military, social or cultural aspects of war.

This years Military History Prize is awarded to:

Garth Callender for “After the Blast: An Australian officer in Iraq and Afghanistan (Black Inc.)”

Garth Callender left the Australian Army in 2013 after a distinguished seventeen-year career, during which he rose to the rank of Major. “After the Blast” is his brutally honest account of his deployments to the Middle East – How he became Australia’s first serious casualty in the war in Iraq, his road to recovery, and his return to the warzone. The book is a rare insight into the realities of Australia’s modern day warfare.

Callender says “I am absolutely thrilled to win the 2016 Nib Military History Literary Award for ‘After the Blast’.  It was written to give the general public a more rounded understanding of what the Australian Military has done in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent times – I am sure this award will assist in gaining further exposure”.

The last award announced on Wednesday was the People’s Choice Award. Since the announcement of the shortlist in mid-September, there has been a tremendous response from members of the public who have voted for their favourite book from the Shortlist for the award of $1000.

The 2016 People’s Choice Award has been won by:

Melanie Joosten for “A Long Time Coming: Essays on Old Age (Scribe)”

“A Long Time Coming” is a powerful collection of essays exploring what it means to grow old in our youth-obsessed world.  Melanie Joosten has undertaken a timely investigation into issues including the housing crisis as it affects older people, the politics of nursing-home care, the difficulties of dementia and the burden of women as carers.