The Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism, formerly known as the Pascall Prize and then the Walkley-Pascall Award or Walkley-Pascall Award for Arts Criticism, is one of two annual Walkley Arts Journalism prizes awarded by the Walkley Foundation. The prize was established in 1988 in memory of Geraldine Pascall, an Australian journalist who died of a stroke at the age of 38.[1] [2]
The other award is the June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism, which is supported by the Copyright Agency, recognises significant contribution to arts journalism, and is open to short and long form journalism in all media.[3] This was established in 2017 as the Arts Journalism Award.[2]
The Pascall Prize was conceived as a biennial literary award for creative writers who had made original and distinctive contributions to Australia's cultural life. In 1990, to better reflect the work and personal interests of the late Geraldine Pascall, it was decided that the Prize should be awarded annually to a critic or reviewer who contributed regularly in Australia to a newspaper, periodical, or on radio or television. This was extended to include the internet.
It was also agreed that the Pascall Prize would be awarded to a critic working in the areas of literature, art (including design and architecture), food and or wine, music, musical theatre, dance and or drama, film, television or radio. Only sport was specifically excluded.
From 1988 to 2014, the recipient of the Pascall Prize was selected by a judging panel of industry peers appointed by Directors of the Geraldine Pascall Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation established specifically to award the prize. The Pascall Prize and the Geraldine Pascall Foundation were managed by the Music & Opera Singers Trust.
In 2015, the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to film critic, journalist and speechwriter Evan Willams on 23 May 2015 at an event held at the Sydney Writers' Festival.
In May 2017, it was announced that the Walkley Foundation would take over administration of the Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism and rename it the Walkley-Pascall Award for Arts Criticism,[4] or Walkley-Pascall Award for short.[5] The first Walkley-Pascall Award was made to Kate Hennessy of The Guardian.[6]
Also in 2017, the Arts Journalism Award was established,[2] later named the June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism.[3]
The Pascall Prize is an annual Australian award for critical writing and review, awarded to an art critic whose work over the previous 12 months has contributed significantly to the cultural landscape.[3], it was the only major national prize awarded for critical writing or reviewing in Australia.[7]
The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to a critic whose body of work exemplifies the values of the Geraldine Pascall Foundation and the Pascall Prize. The inaugural award was presented in 2015.
The June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism is supported by the Copyright Agency, and recognises significant contribution to arts journalism, and is open to short and long form journalism in all media.[3]
| Year ! Recipient | Presented By | - | 2015 | Evan Williams AM | Simon Thomsen, Roland Gridiger | - |
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| Year ! Recipient | Judging Panel | - | 1988 | - | 1989 | not awarded | - | 1990 | - | 1991 | Joanna Mendelssohn | Andrew Andersons, Leon Paroissen, Daniel Thomas | - | 1992 | Gay Bilson, Marion Halligan, Barbara Santich | - | 1993 | Roger Covell and Cyrus Meher-Homji | - | 1994 | Margaret Fink, Richard Glover, Sandra Levy, John O'Hara, Kim Williams (Convenor) | - | 1995 | John McCallum | Katherine Brisbane AM, Martin Portus, Jane Westbrook, Adrian Read (Convenor) | - | 1996 | Roger Covell, Sandra Hall, John McCallum, Joanna Mendelssohn, Marion Halligan, Alan Saunders, Margaret Throsby AM (Convenor) | - | 1997 | Adrian Martin | Roger Covell, Bruce Elder, Sandra Hall, Marion Halligan, John McCallum, Cyrus Meher-Homji, Joanna Mendelssohn, Alan Saunders, Gay Bilson (Convenor) | - | 1998 | Bruce Elder, Sandra Hall, John McCallum, Joanna Mendelssohn, David Throsby, Adrian Read (Convenor) | - | 1999 | Bruce Elder, Andrew Ford, Marion Halligan, Jill Kitson, Adrian Martin, Adrian Read (Convenor) | - | 2000 | Robert Nelson | Gay Bilson, Marion Halligan, Adrian Martin, Andrew Riemer, Alan Saunders | - | 2001 | Gay Bilson, Bruce Elder, Andrew Ford, Sandra Hall, Robert Nelson, Adrian Read (Convenor) | - | 2002 | Noel Purdon | Gay Bilson, Sandra Forbes, Sandra Hall, John McCallum, Adrian Martin, Andrew Riemer | - | 2003 | Julie Rigg | Bruce Elder, Andrew Ford, Sandra Hall, David Throsby | - | 2004 | Mary Jo Capps, Andrew Ford, Noel Purdon, Andrew Riemer, Julie Rigg | - | 2005 | Elizabeth Farrelly, Marion Halligan, Adrian Martin, Robert Nelson, Susan Wyndham | - | 2006 | - | 2007 | Paul Byrnes | Bruce Elder (Convenor), Ray Hughes, John McCallum, Julie Rigg, Julianne Schulz | - | 2008 | not awarded | - | 2009 | Alison Croggon[8] | Kate Eltham, Robert Forster, Leo Schofield, Rosemary Sorensen, Adrian Read (Convenor) | 2010 | Mark Mordue | Kathy Cleland, Alison Croggon, Damon Young, Adrian Read (Convenor) | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 2011 | Geordie Williamson[9] | Mark McCallum, Mark Mordue, Adrian Read (Convenor), Damon Young | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Alison Croggon, Geordie Williamson, Adrian Read (Convenor) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | James Bradley, Rosemary Sorensen, Adrian Read (Convenor) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Jane Caro, Dr Kerryn Goldsworthy, Geordie Williamson, Adrian Read (Convenor) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | not awarded | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Sarah Krasnostein[10] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Catriona Menzies-Pike[11] |