Actor, comedian and Footy Show fixture Anh Do has won the 2011 Indie Book of the Year Award for his memoir, The Happiest Refugee.
The announcement was made last night at the annual conference of Australia’s independent booksellers, and brought the typically stoic Do to tears. “When I found out I’d won book of the year, the first person I called was my mum, who was so happy she cried on the phone.” he said “I did a bit too to be honest.”
“The Happiest Refugee was chosen by an overwhelming number of independent booksellers as their book of the year,” says Leading Edge Books general manager and awards organizer Simon Milne. “Last year was an important year for non-fiction, and this is the first time a non-fiction book has won this award. Anh Do’s story of his family’s struggle to reach Australia, and the life they have created since then touched booksellers and readers alike.”
2010, a banner year for poignant non-fiction from Asian Australian humorists.
