A special award of $10,000 was made to Manus Island refugee Behrooz Boochani for his book No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison (Picador) at the 2019 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards yesterday. 

Boochani’s book was not eligible for the regular awards, which require that authors be Australian citizens. The book won the top prize at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards in January this year, after an exception was made to the eligibility requirements.