Ever since she taught English as a second language, Joan London was passionate about writing. And now, after years of hard work, the contemporary author has received the 2015 Patrick White award for her contribution to Australian literature .

The Patrick White Award was established by Australian writer Patrick White, who wrote “The Eye of the Storm” (1973). White used the winnings from his Nobel Prize in Literature to set up a trust for the annual prize, which is given to an author who has shown high creativity levels over a long period of time but has not necessarily received any prior recognition.

London was recognised at an award celebration in Sydney on Friday, Nov. 13, and received $24,000 in prize money for her hard work and creativity. She was praised by the judges for her “nomadic characters... [who affirm] through their relationships and varied histories a global humanity.”

The Fremantle novelist is the author of two short story collections and three novels. Her novel “The Golden Age” earned her the 2015 Kibble Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. Her gentle and quiet prose has been a hit with critics.

“The Golden Age” tells the story of teenager Frank Gold, a Hungarian refugee who is recovering from polio in Australia. During his convalescence, he meets fellow patient Elsa and they embark on a passionate romance.

London’s love for travel and the Australian landscape has been an inspiration for her works. Inspired by an overland journey from Asia to Europe that she took, her first novel “Gilgamesh” (2001) tells the story of a pair of travellers who journey around the globe during some of the most turbulent and unstable times of the 20th century. While some of her stories are based in actual countries such as Russia or Western Australia, she also tends to dream up places that are just outside of reality, where connection, love and loss can be explored in all of its awesome and painful glory.

London was honoured to receive the accolade, adding that receiving the award from a fellow writer was humbling and illuminating.

“I am deeply honoured to be the recipient of this year's Patrick White Award,” she said. “It’s an award that has always intrigued me, embodying, it seems to me, the deepest values of Patrick White himself, who knew all about the highs and lows of the writing life, the anxiety and doubts that only solid, daily hours of application can help overcome.”

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