A debut novel exploring the hidden history of a segregated Queensland shantytown has secured the top prize at this year’s Queensland literary awards. The Pearl of Tagai Town follows the lives of its author’s ancestors in Cairns-Malay Town, a now-unmapped community that once brought together Indigenous Australians, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Malaysian, and Sri Lankan residents—all excluded from the white population during its existence from the late 1800s to the late 1950s. Critics have praised the work for its vivid storytelling and distinct Queensland identity, calling it a "stunning" contribution to historical fiction. The winning novel sheds light on a long-overlooked chapter of multicultural Australia.
Lenora Thaker wins $30,000 prize for ‘a work of state significance’ for The Pearl of Tagai Town, which draws on her family’s history in Cairns-Malay TownA “stunning” debut novel described as “unambiguously and distinctively Queensland” has won the $30,000 top prize at the Queensland literary awards (QLAs).Meriam and Wagedagam author Lenora Thaker won the Queensland premier’s award for a work of state significance for her historical novel The Pearl of Tagai Town, which was inspired by her ancestors’ lives in an unmapped shantytown known as Cairns-Malay Town. The town once housed Indigenous Australians, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Malaysian and Sri Lankan residents who had been segregated from the white population; it existed from the late 1800s until the late 1950s. Continue reading...
