Anh Do wins award

Today, SBS’s World News Australia website has reported that Anh Do wins top book award.

The article goes on to say,

Comedian and author Anh Do has won the top prize for his novel ‘The Happiest Refugee’ at Australia’s top book awards.

Sydney-based Do won Book of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards in Melbourne last night. His family fled from Vietnam to Australia in a fishing boat in 1980 as refugees.

Do, best known for his leading role in the film Footy Legends (Ed’s note, that’s ‘rugby footy’; not ‘Aussie Rules footy’), was also joint winner of The Biography of the Year with musician Paul Kelly.

Based on a series of concerts first staged in 2004, Kelly’s memoir, How to Make Gravy, lists 100 of his songs in alphabetical order followed by stories about them. Some pieces are confessional, some tell Kelly’s personal and family history, and some take you on a road tour with the band.

The annual awards allocated 20 prizes to authors, booksellers and publishers from the past year. The winners are chosen by an academy of booksellers and publishers.

According to Wikipedia, Footy Legends is a 2006 Australian film, directed, written and produced by Khoa Do, starring his older brother Anh Do. It was filmed in and around Sydney, Australia, mostly in the western suburbs. Footy Legends was released in Australia on 3 August 2006.

Imagine if Anh Do had featured in an Aussie Rules film. Ooooh! How good would that have been??