An asylum seeker who has been detained by Australia on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island for years has won Australia’s richest literary prize with a book that was submitted to its publisher via text message.
Journalist Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian Kurd, wrote No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison and sent the manuscript piece by piece to translator Omid Tofighian.
Boochani’s book was chosen to receive the 2019 Victorian Prize for Literature, worth A$100,000 (£55,000), as well as the Prize for Non-Fiction at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, worth A$25,000 (£13,750).
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“In some ways I am very happy because we are able to get attention to this plight and you know many people have become aware of this situation, which is great,” Boochani told the BBC.
“But on the other side I feel that I don't have the right to have celebration - because I have many friends here who are suffering in this place.”
Boochani was detained on Manus Island in 2013 for attempting to enter Australia without a valid visa.
Australian law dictates that any undocumented person arriving in Australia by sea will be processed at an offshore detention facility.
CNN reports that there are still “600 refugees who remain in camps on the island despite Australia having closed its ‘regional processing centre’ there in 2017”.
-
Zootropolis 2: a ‘perky and amusing’ movieThe Week Recommends The talking animals return in a family-friendly sequel
-
The twists and turns in the fight against HIVThe Explainer Scientific advances offer hopes of a cure but ‘devastating’ foreign aid cuts leave countries battling Aids without funds
-
Storyteller: a ‘fitting tribute’ to Robert Louis StevensonThe Week Recommends Leo Damrosch’s ‘valuable’ biography of the man behind Treasure Island
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
