Still on awards. It was pleasing to see Helen Garner’s The Children’s Bach win the SA Premier’s Award. Awards give novels status. So do reviews. Illywhacker is an important novel. It is also overrated, partly because it is such a large and entertaining achievement. But it sags often, and loses direction regularly. Big is not necessarily beautiful. Nor is small. But it is welcome to see the achievement of Garner acknowledged, and to halt the mythology that Illywhacker is the only important achievement of the past year.

Awards still. The Literature Board has announced that it will no longer fund the NBC Award. Maybe the Lit Board will change its mind. Maybe some private sponsor will come forward. Though I shudder at the possibility of slogans, ‘This year’s winner is like Wills, Extra Mild’, or ‘our Award goes to another long cool Carlton Draught’. The Lit Board very generously sponsors this magazine.’ It has the impossible job of managing a small amount of money and pleasing us all. It seems to me that it does a marvellous job in sorting out priorities. I am not quite stupid enough to bite the hand that feeds me. But I don’t mind giving it a few fiercely loving licks with the rough part of my tongue (which is of course a very small part of that organ). I hope the Lit Board will reconsider its decision about funding the NBC Awards. And perhaps someone will explain the allocation of Lit Board grants. I’m sure there is a rational explanation – the Lit Board has proved itself an enlightened and imaginative organisation. But it remains a mystery to me – again – that nine writers from NSW get ‘one year fellowships of $25,000 – and looking through the list they seem to me very deserving. Two Victorians – Peter Mathers and George Turner – make the grade. In both cases I am delighted. But I remain amazed that so few worthy writers live south of the Murray. Perhaps the explanation lies in our climate and in the story of the American who responded to apologies for our unseasonable summer by asking ‘Do people actually live here in winter?’ Well, Chekhov and Ibsen and Tolstoy made some memorable jottings without ever, as far as I know, sunbaking on Bondi.

It is a great pleasure to turn to another form of Award, provided by Grenfell Henry Lawson Festival of the Arts and Crafts. There are awards for verse, song, and prose. We are not talking BHP-Holmes a Court Money here, we are talking Lawson Money. And a great tradition. For information you can ring (063) 43 1548 or (063) 43 1658. Entries close 24 April. Entry forms are available from Verse, Song and Prose Section, Lawson Festival, PO Box 77, Grenfell, 2810. Pass round the hat, and good luck Henry.

You could tum to another Lawson. ‘Alan, of the Department of English, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane. Alan is one of the organisers of The Badlands Conference on Canadian and Australian Literature, to be held at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada – August 25–29. If you want to give a paper get in touch with Alan immediately. Time is running out, but his letters suggest that we have not enough offers from Australia, and I am sure he will be willing to perform acrobatic feats to fit in any offers of papers. For further information about the conference, contact Alan Lawson at the University of Queensland. It does sound interesting, and it will give you a chance to explore the Badlands with some good people.

The Mattara Poetry prize is also coming round again. This is the richest Australian Award for a single poem or a group of poems – $4,000. The judges this year will be Vincent Buckley and Roger McDonald, and Christopher Pollnitz. Entries close on May 30. Entries and enquiries should be addressed to the Mattara Poetry Prize, Department of English, University of Newcastle, NSW, 2308. As usual an anthology will be published from a selection of poems entered in this competition.

Thanks to all editors who supported our Reviewers Award and to our devoted judges, Julie Copeland, Michael Costigan, and Val Kent Most newspapers graciously acknowledged Elizabeth Riddell’s winning of the Award though the Australian managed to mention the Award without mentioning ABR.

While on the subject of newspapers, I mention a rather elaborate brochure that has landed on my desk. This is about an attempt to start a national weekly newspaper – in attempt to overcome monopoly newspaper ownership in Australia. The newspaper would be directed at and – it is hoped – be supported by the national labour movement. For further details, you can write to John Matthews, National Labour Weekly Project, PO Box 174, Abbotsford, Vic, 3067.