# Debut novel about segregated shantytown wins Queensland's top literary prize

> Lenora Thaker's The Pearl of Tagai Town, inspired by her family's history in Cairns-Malay Town, wins the thirty thousand dollar Queensland premier's award for a work of state significance.
- Title: Debut novel about segregated shantytown wins Queensland's top…
- Summary: Lenora Thaker's The Pearl of Tagai Town, inspired by her family's history in Cairns-Malay Town, wins the thirty thousand dollar Queensland premier's award…
- Keywords: lenora thaker, the pearl of tagai town, queensland literary awards, cairns-malay town, australian literature, queensland, news, politics, Debut, novel, segregated, shantytown
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/books/2026/oct/08/queensland-literary-awards-lenora-thaker-the-pearl-of-tagai-town-winner
- Published: 2026-10-08T10:30:16+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: lenora thaker, the pearl of tagai town, queensland literary awards, cairns-malay town, australian literature, queensland, news, politics
## Thaker wins top prize for debut novel
Lenora Thaker's The Pearl of Tagai Town won the thirty thousand dollar Queensland premier's award for a work of state significance at the Queensland literary awards on Thursday night.
## Novel inspired by segregated shantytown
The historical novel was inspired by Thaker's ancestors' lives in Cairns-Malay Town, an unmapped shantytown that housed Indigenous Australians, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Malaysian and Sri Lankan residents segregated from the white population.
## Cairns-Malay Town existed for six decades
Cairns-Malay Town existed from the late eighteen hundreds until the late nineteen fifty s, housing a diverse community that had been separated from the broader white population of the region.
## Judges praise accessible, vivid storytelling
The Queensland literary awards judges called the novel a stunning debut with warm, richly drawn characters and an innovative integration of Ailan languages that brings new insight to a far north Queensland community.

> Warm, richly drawn characters and an innovative integration of Ailan languages come together in a rich, cohesive whole, bringing new insight and fresh imaginative life to a far north Queensland community.
## Other category winners announced
Claire Thomas won the fifteen thousand dollar fiction prize for On Not Climbing Mountains. Micaela Sahhar won nonfiction for Find Me at the Jaffa Gate. Zeno Sworder won the children's category for Once I Was a Giant.
## Awards moved after fellowship controversy
The Queensland literary awards were administered by the State Library of Queensland until two thousand twenty five, when controversy over arts minister John-Paul Langbroek's intervention to stop awarding a fellowship to First Nations author K A Ren Wyld led to twelve judges resigning in protest.
## Brisbane writers festival now runs awards
After the controversy delayed last year's awards, Langbroek handed management of the Queensland literary awards to the Brisbane writers festival from this year onwards, where the two thousand twenty six winners were announced.
## Key takeaway

Lenora Thaker's debut novel The Pearl of Tagai Town won the thirty thousand dollar top prize at Queensland's literary awards for its portrayal of a segregated community that housed Indigenous Australians and Asian residents from the late eighteen hundreds until the late nineteen fifty s.