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COOK'S APPRENTICE WINS HISTORY PRIZE
October 29, 2009
ANTHONY HILL WINS YOUNG PEOPLE’S HISTORY PRIZE
Award-winning Canberra author Anthony Hill has won the 2009 NSW Premier’s Young People’s History Prize for his novel Captain Cook’s Apprentice. The book tells the story of the Endeavour voyage through the eyes of a cabin boy, Isaac Manley, who in life rose to become an Admiral and was the last survivor of the Endeavour crew.
In their report the judges said the novel offers young readers ‘great insights into a seminal event in Australian and world history… Isaac’s story is told as a compelling adventure rich in historical detail.’
Chaired by Emeritus Professor Ros Pesman of the University of Sydney, the judges said, ‘Captain Cook’s Apprentice is an exciting, page-turning novel that breathes new life into the ever-growing corpus of publications on Cook’s journeys. This wonderful book is based on painstaking research…
‘The author goes to some lengths to make young readers aware of the cultural differences and misunderstandings between British sailors and the many peoples whose paths they crossed on their journey. Class differences between the sailors and commanders are also skilfully revealed. Delicate illustrations, maps and addenda add strength to the didactic benefits of the novel but nowhere is the strength of the story sacrificed to that purpose.
‘Hill brings the world of Endeavour to life, below decks and above. … This book is a beautifully written and presented text for young, and not so young, adults.’
Accepting the award, Anthony Hill thanked the judges for the confidence it showed in his work with biographical novels over the past decade, starting with Soldier Boy, the story of the youngest-known Anzac, James Martin, who died aged only 14.
‘They differ from some historical novels in that my external facts and assumptions are as accurate as I can make them. I must always alter my story to fit the known facts, not the other way around – although the internals of thought, speech and emotion can only come from myself as a novelist.
‘It is a difficult balance to achieve, but one I believe important to attempt if we are to bring history alive for young readers and persuade them that they in the present are the inheritors of all that has gone before. I thank you for validating, through this award, much that I have sought to achieve.’
Captain Cook’s Apprentice is published by Penguin Books. Anthony Hill received a two-year grant from the Literature Board of the Australia Council to research and write the novel. Soldier Boy won the 2002 NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Young Adults.
The judges’ full report follows. It is also available under ‘Latest News’ at http://www.arts.nsw.gov.au
JUDGES' CITATION FOR CAPTAIN COOK'S APPRENTICE
YOUNG PEOPLE’S HISTORY PRIZE ($15,000)
"Anthony Hill in Captain Cook’s Apprentice offers his young readers great insights into a seminal event in Australian, and world, history: the voyage of Captain Cook into the South Pacific in 1768 to observe the transit of Venus and, under secret orders, to find and claim the Great South Land.
The novel gives a fictionalised account of the experiences of Isaac George Manley, a real life cabin boy, later Admiral of the British Navy, and provides a ‘mess deck view’ of life aboard the HMS Endeavour. Isaac’s story is told as a compelling adventure rich with historical detail. The author goes to some lengths to make young readers aware of the cultural differences and misunderstandings between British sailors and the many peoples whose paths they crossed on their journey. Class differences between the sailors and commanders are also skilfully revealed. Delicate illustrations, maps and addenda add strength to the didactic benefits of the novel but nowhere is the strength of the story sacrificed to that purpose.
Captain Cook’s Apprentice is an exciting, page-turning novel that breaths new life into the ever growing corpus of publications on Cook’s journeys. This wonderful book is based on painstaking research. Hill uses primary sources not only for constructing the narrative, but also he has taken great care to include pictorial archival evidence and other diagrammatic representations of historical artefacts. His novel brings the world of the Endeavour to life, below decks and above. Captain Cook, famous passengers such as Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, as well as the crew, are all faithfully depicted as they encounter the new world of the South Pacific and Australasia. Published as a paperback, this book is a beautifully written and presented text for young, and not so young, adults.
The judges of the 2009 NSW Premier’s History Awards were Emeritus Professor Ros Pesman (Chair), Dr Margo Beasley, Dr Peter Cochrane, Dr Josephine May, Ms Mari Metzke and Dr David Roberts."
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