# The Drowner

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{{Short description|Book by Robert Drewe}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject Books -->
| name          =  The Drowner
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = The Drowner.jpg
| caption       = First edition
| author        = [Robert Drewe](/source/Robert_Drewe)
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = [Australia](/source/Australia)
| language      = [English](/source/English_language)
| series        = 
| genre         = [novel](/source/novel)
| publisher     = [Pan Macmillan](/source/Pan_Macmillan), Australia
| release_date  = 1996
| english_release_date = 
| media_type    = Print ([hardback](/source/hardback) & [paperback](/source/paperback))
| pages         = 329
| isbn          =  0732908582 
| preceded_by   = [Our Sunshine](/source/Our_Sunshine)
| followed_by   = Grace
}}

'''''The Drowner''''' (1996) is a novel by [Australia](/source/Australia)n author [Robert Drewe](/source/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](/source/Miles_Franklin_Award), and won the [Vance Palmer
Prize](/source/Victorian_Premier's_Prize_for_Fiction) for Fiction and [New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards](/source/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](/source/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](/source/New_South_Wales_Premier's_Literary_Awards) — Book of the Year<ref name="NSWPLA1997" />
* 1997 shortlisted [Commonwealth Writer's Prize](/source/Commonwealth_Writer's_Prize) — South East Asia and South Pacific Region - Best First Novel 
* 1997 winner [Vance Palmer Prize](/source/Victorian_Premier's_Prize_for_Fiction) 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](/source/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](/source/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}}

{{New South Wales Premier's Prize for Fiction}}
{{Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction}}

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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Drowner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drowner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drowner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.