''A Woman of the Future'' (1979) is a novel by Australian author David Ireland. It won the

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

in 1979 and was joint winner of the

Age Book of the Year ''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Initially, two awar ...

award in 1980. As a result of this novel, Ireland was "being hailed as the successor to

Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...

and the antipodean rival of the great American satirist

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

". Originally published in 1979, it was re-issued in 2012 as part of the

Text Publishing Text Publishing is an independent Australian publisher of fiction and non-fiction, based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Company background Text Media was founded in Melbourne in 1990 by Diana Gribble and Eric Beecher, along wit ...

Text Classics series. This edition carried an introduction by

Kate Jennings Catherine Ruth Jennings (20 May 1948 – 1 May 2021) was an Australian poet, essayist, memoirist, and novelist. Biography Jennings grew up on a farm near Griffith, New South Wales. She attended the University of Sydney in the late 1960s, gradua ...

Critical reception

On the announcement of the Miles Franklin Award win, ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' stated: " ''A Woman of the Future'' was rejected by Macmillans at first because it was too long and too complex or, as Mr Ireland put it yesterday, 'too incomprehensible' ". Following this, one of the award judges, Emeritus Professor

Colin Roderick Colin Arthur Roderick (27 July 1911 – 16 June 2000) was an Australian writer, editor, academic and educator. Early life and education Colin Roderick was born in Mount Morgan, Queensland on 27 July 1911. He attended Bundaberg State School an ...

, described the book as "literary sewage","Award for 'sewage' ", ''The Canberra Times'', 5 June 1980, p7
/ref> and stated it was "a dreadful, sex-ridden fantasy, doomed to oblivion." Writing in 1980 for ''Woroni'',

Andrea Mitchell Andrea Mitchell (born October 30, 1946) is an American television journalist, anchor and commentator for NBC News, based in Washington, D.C. She is NBC News' chief foreign affairs & chief Washington correspondent, reporting on the 2008 presid ...

noted a

"different and more rewarding perspective on women in society" from the author. "In this novel Ireland has pinpointed the crisis of modern feminism by projecting it forward in one direction. Must feminism adjust to the mainstream of modern culture, training girls up to become pseudo-men in order to compete for power and privilege in an unequal and vicious society — or can it work to undermine such qualities and recreate the world with a human face?""A Woman of the Future - a feminist review"
by Andrea Mitchell, ''Woroni'', 8 September 1980, p14

Awards and nominations

* 1979 winner

Miles Franklin Literary Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

* 1980 joint winner

The Age Book of the Year ''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Initially, two awar ...

Award — "Book of the Year", with ''

Homesickness Homesickness is the distress caused by being away from home.Kerns, Brumariu, Abraham. Kathryn A., Laura E., Michelle M.(2009/04/13). Homesickness at summer camp. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54. Its cognitive hallmark is preoccupying thoughts of home ...

'' by

Murray Bail Murray Bail (born 22 September 1941) is an Australian writer of novels, short stories and non-fiction. In 1980 he shared the Age Book of the Year award for his novel ''Homesickness.'' He was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He has lived most ...

* 1980 commended

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

— Fiction * 1981 highly commended National Book Council Award for Australian Literature

Critical reception

Awards and nominations

References

See also