The 2011 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards winners have been announced.

Stephen Daisley won the fiction prize for his novel Traitor while the
award for non-fiction went to Rod Moss for his book The Hard Light of
Day.

The young adult fiction category was won by Cath Crowley for Graffiti
Moon and the children’s fiction award went to author Boori Monty Pryor
and illustrator Jan Ormerod for their picture book Shake a Leg.

Stephen Daisley’s debut novel, Traitor, is a story of war and love, and
how each changes everything, forever. It tells the story of two men
thrown together by war in the battle-smoke and chaos of Gallipoli – a
young New Zealand soldier and a Turkish doctor.

The Hard Light of Day is Rod Moss’ moving memoir of his life in Alice
Springs as a young art teacher and his intimate friendship with the
traditional owners, the Arrernte people.

Cath Crowley’s book, Graffiti Moon, is a story of graffiti artist
Shadow and his friend Poet who haunt the night and the dreams of a girl
named Lucy. Told from alternating points-of-view, Crowley perfectly
captures the teenagers’ tenderness and their toughness.

Shake a Leg by Boori Monty Pryor and illustrator Jan Ormerod is a book
that challenges the boundaries of culture and of what a picture book can
be. When three boys go into a pizza shop in far north Queensland they
meet a pizza-maker, an Aboriginal man, who reveals not only the secrets
of great pizza – but the stories that he draws upon for inspiration.