Mammoth achievement: local author shortlisted for award

Local author Chris Flynn has been shortlisted for the 2021 Indie Book Awards for his novel “Mammoth”.

One of four authors shortlisted in the Fiction section, he’s in prestigious company alongside Trent Dalton, Richard Flanagan and Craig Silvey

His fellow nominees have been shortlisted for numerous local and international awards and between them have won The Booker Prize, Victorian Premier’s Prize, Australian Book Industry Awards, and previous Indie Book Awards.

“It’s nice being up there alongside the big, proper authors,” said Chris.

“Flanaghan is a Booker Prize winner and a living legend in the Australian literary world. Craig Silvey wrote the much-loved Jasper Jones, and Trent Dalton is one of the most popular recent authors in Australia.

“Then there’s little me! To be on the shortlist, I feel like I’ve already won.”

He said the Indie Book Awards are particularly special, as they’re voted on by the independent bookstores around Australia.

“It’s quite an endorsement from people who are selling the book. It’s nice to be on this list, because it feels like it is genuinely judged by book sellers.”

“Mammoth” is Chris’ third novel.

Narrated by a 13,000-year-old extinct America mastodon, it tells the story of how the skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar, a pterodactyl, a prehistoric penguin, the severed hand of an Egyptian mummy and the mammoth came to be on sale at a Manhattan auction in 2007.

Skipping across eras and continents, the story covers historical events and scientific progress and also shines a light on man’s impact on the natural environment.

The book defied the odds, and the pandemic, when Chris decided to push ahead with the release date, despite the country going into lockdown. With bookstores closed and all the planned festival appearances on hold, it was a gamble.

“A lot of books postponed their release until later in the year, but we decided to go ahead and I’m so glad we did,” Chris said.

“Bookstores had something to sell and it was nice to give people something fun and interesting to read. It was the worst conditions to release a book in, but it’s been successful. We’ve had five reprints, so I think we did the right thing.”

He said he’s been humbled by the reception to the novel.

“It’s very hard in the publishing game to maintain interest in a book after it’s been released.

“Nearly a year after, for people to still be talking about the book and buying it, is remarkable. And it’s such a strange book too. It’s not an obvious story – like a crime thriller set in a rural community. It’s about talking bones.

“It’s great that something as unique as that can find an audience.”

While being shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards is great publicity in itself, Chris is also hoping to finally be able to get out and promote “Mammoth” in person.

“Last year, I did events on zoom, but hopefully I’m going to travel to promote the book this year. I’m going to Perth on February 19, appearing at the Perth Festival.

“It’s the biggest event I’ve ever done as an author. I’ve got my ticket booked, but the border is still closed. Hopefully the border will reopen in time for the trip … fingers crossed.”

And Chris’ fans will be please to know a new novel is on the way.

“I handed in my next book to my agent this morning,” he laughed.
“It’s going to the publisher next week and hopefully will be out next year.”

Despite the success of “Mammoth”, the new novel is not a talking bones sequel.

“It’s a book about an Alzheimer's pandemic. Imagining what would have happened if instead of Covid, we had something much worse.

“There’s evidence in monkeys of a virus that hardens tissues in the liver and sometimes in the brain – the equivalent of having about 10 years of Alzheimer’s in two weeks

“It follows the stories of three different women trying to survive this plague, losing their personality, memory and ability to take care of themselves in two weeks. It’s kinda scary, but there’s humour as well.”

The Indie Book Awards category winners, and overall Book of the Year, will be announced at a virtual awards event on Monday, March 22.

For more info on the Indie Book Awards visit www.indiebookawards.com.au