
Salom's 2016 novel Waiting was a finalist for the Miles Franklin Award. Judges comments for Waiting:
"Waiting centres on a pair of odd couples ... Salom interweaves their tales, with walk-ons by an eclectic cast of eccentrics, to dissect the vulnerabilities of the human condition (loneliness, fear of intimacy, powerlessness, guilt), the power of the past to haunt us, the fear of the future to mire us, and the redemptive effects of love and acceptance.
Waiting is poignant, compassionate and droll; it is never maudlin nor idealised. Salom’s prose, poetic and frequently playful, bestows a multiplicity of incidental insights en route, yet never condescends to its subjects nor patronises its readers. As rollicking as it is original and affecting, Waiting is a highly readable addition to Australian literature."
Waiting was also shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Award for Literature and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction.
From the PM's Judges Report:
"Philip Salom's Waiting is a reflective and subtly powerful novel ... The novel vibrates with the language of the street and the speaking voices of the many characters is brilliantly captured by Salom, whose poetry background is apparent. The suburban rooming house which is central to the novel reverberates with wit and intensity and the cast of characters that live and die in this boarding house is achingly authentic. Their impoverished circumstances, daily struggles with health and mental capacity are all handled with sensitivity and a unique voice.
Waiting is a beautiful telling of the lives of ordinary people."
Comments from the Premier's Prize judges:
"At times cerebral, at times hilarious, and at times devastating, Waiting is peopled with misfit characters who have often been maligned by society. Salom takes great risks with language, plot and pacing, and his poet’s flair for expression resonates through much of the novel. This book is philosophical, erudite and serious, but never takes itself too seriously – a fine and difficult balance to achieve."
http://www.wheelercentre.com/projects/victorian-premier-s-literary-awards-2017/waiting
https://www.perpetual.com.au/MilesFranklin/Award-and-Recipients
Several of the fulsome reviews of Waiting can be found on the Puncher and Wattmann website. This one was the first off the rank:
'In his brilliant and unsettling novel Waiting, Philip Salom has unleashed Australia's oddest literary couple since the elderly twin brothers Arthur and Waldo Brown in Patrick White's The Solid Mandala ...'
To read full review:
Peter Pierce reviews Waiting in The Australian
Philip's third novel, Waiting, has also received outstanding responses in media and social media - including full reviews in The Australian, The Age/Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Book Review, The Saturday Paper, the West Australian, TEXT Journal and Cordite Journal. Reviewers have been impressed by the novel's extraordinary characters and the overall wit and compassion of the writing. They also focus on the novel's unique sociological context: of outsiderness and rooming houses. It is a strikingly different book. One book club ordered 48 books (!) and Waiting seems perfect for book club discussion.
My contact : psalom@philipsalom.com

