Congratulations must go to Australian author, Tasmanian resident Richard Flanagan who last week was named the winner of this year’s Man Booker Prize,  one of literature’s most prestigious awards, for his novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Australian author Richard Flanagan

The novel draws on Richard’s father’s experience as a Prisoner of War, working as a slave labourer on the Thai-Burma Railway.

Richard’s father was part of a group of men commanded by Weary Dunlop, who endured extraordinary hardships inflicted on them by the Japanese army.