LAST week the Barnett government spent $2 million to bring the Giants to WA. This week it’s cancelled this year’s premier’s book awards in order to save $65,000.

Fremantle author John Dowson, who took out the non-fiction title 12 years ago for his book Old Fremantle, describes the cancellation as “outrageous”.

From now on the formerly annual awards will be held biennially, a move the LNP government says it’s making as part of its efficiency drive.

“Every state has its awards but here in WA we are halving ours for a saving of just $65,000,” Mr Dowson thunders.

“They just spent $6 million bringing the Giants here, which is fantastic, but they can’t afford $65,000 for literature?”

The respected amateur historian says receiving his award provided credibility in a notoriously snooty field.

“All these academics on their gravy trains who look down their noses at you—I’m being cynical here—but they can’t look down their noses at you so much.”

Mr Dowson suspects the real culprit is not the politicians, but members of the WA State Library board, who he believes are “besotted by the digital age”.

“Libraries are being stripped of printed books at an alarming rate,” Mr Dowson says.

“They are being trucked off each week to never-ending ‘book sales’.”

The former port city deputy mayor says the downgrade of the premier’s book award comes as printed books make an unexpected comeback.

Research from the Pew Research Center in the US two years ago found sales of e-books is slowing while new technology is helping drive increased sales for printed books.

“When my book Old Fremantle was published in 2003 it went immediately into over 300 Western Australian libraries,” Mr Dowson told the Herald. “When a similar book of mine, Fremantle Port, was published a couple of years ago, it was a full year before a single copy found its way into any library.”

He’s concerned about the effect on authors of children’s literature, as it’s a highly competitive field and the lack of exposure will hurt young writers.

“The library board of WA needs a kick in the pants,” he says. “This disgrace is not just the fault of the arts minister John Day and the premier Colin Barnett.”

by STEVE GRANT