'Not Australian enough': Miles Franklin Award-winner overcomes early rejection

MILES FRANKLIN 2023 WINNER

Winner of the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Shankari Chandran, with her novel ‘Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens’ at the Ovolo Hotel in Sydney Source: AAP / BIANCA DE MARCHI/AAPIMAGE

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When she wrote her first manuscript, she was told her stories weren't Australian enough but Shankari Chandran is now a proud winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award. Her novel, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, tackles war, trauma and division, in a confronting, but endearing story.

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