The Drowner

{{Short description|Book by Robert Drewe}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}} {{infobox book |  | name = The Drowner | title_orig = | translator = | image = The Drowner.jpg | caption = First edition | author = Robert Drewe | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = Australia | language = English | series = | genre = novel | publisher = Pan Macmillan, Australia | release_date = 1996 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print (hardback & paperback) | pages = 329 | isbn = 0732908582 | preceded_by = Our Sunshine | followed_by = Grace }}

'''''The Drowner''''' (1996) is a novel by Australian author Robert Drewe.<ref>{{cite web|title= ''The Drowner'' by Robert Drewe|publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1132278|access-date= 3 July 2024}}</ref>

It was shortlisted for Miles Franklin Award, and won the Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction and New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Book of the Year in 1997.

==Plot summary==

In the late 19th century an Englishman irrigator or "drowner", Will Dance, utilises ancient water-knowledge and modern technology to save a drought-ridden town in Western Australia.

==Reviews==

* ''Publishers' Weekly'' noted: "The desert mining town,..., comes fully to life, invigorated by crisp and moving portrayals of Drewe's minor characters and the monotonous beauty of the hostile (blessedly arid) countryside."<ref>[http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-312-16821-6 "The Drowner, Robert Drewe, author", ''Publishers' Weekly'']</ref> * Garth Crawford in ''Woroni'' stated: "In his mastery of image, and spare but beautiful descriptions of this quest, Drewe reveals his strongest claim to pre-eminence. The Drowner is by an author who enjoys words, weighs and places each without mistaking linguistic asceticism for aestheticism."<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140143007 "The Drowner - Robert Drewe" by Garth Crawford, ''Woroni'', 10 October 1996]</ref>

==Awards and nominations==

* 1997 winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Christina Stead Prize for Fiction<ref name="NSWPLA1997">{{cite web|title="Novelist Drewe carries off a big prize at last" |publisher= Sydney Morning Herald, 18 September 1997|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/363360979|access-date= 3 July 2024|id= {{ProQuest|363360979}}}}</ref> * 1997 winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Book of the Year<ref name="NSWPLA1997" /> * 1997 shortlisted Commonwealth Writer's Prize — South East Asia and South Pacific Region - Best First Novel * 1997 winner Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction<ref>{{cite web|title="The Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction 1997-1999" |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v788?mainTabTemplate=awardWorksAndAgents&from=24&count=3|access-date= 3 July 2024}}</ref> * 1998 winner Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature<ref name="SLSA">{{cite web|website=State Library of South Australia|url=https://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/past-literary-award-winners|title=Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners|access-date=3 July 2024}}</ref> * 1998 winner Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature — Premier's Award for the Best Overall Published Work<ref name="SLSA" />

==Notes== A film adaptation of the novel was reportedly arranging funding in 2010,<ref>{{cite web|title="Film in vogue as investment option" |publisher= The West Australian, 20 March 2010|url=https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/film-in-vogue-as-investment-option-ng-ya-218217|access-date= 3 July 2024}}</ref> and was in pre-production in 2013. It was to be directed by Jeff Darling from a screenplay by Justin Monjo, and produced by Michael Boughen and Matthew Street and production company Ambience Entertainment.

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drowner, The}} Category:1996 Australian novels Category:Pan Books books Category:Christina Stead Prize for Fiction–winning works