Former Australian Antarctic Arts Fellow, Tom Griffiths, has been jointly awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History for 2008.

Professor Griffiths won the $100,000 award for his book, Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica, written after his trip to Antarctica in the summer of 2002–03.

The Prize recognises outstanding publications which contribute significantly to the understanding of Australia’s history.

The judges said Professor Griffiths’ book was, “a highly original and beautifully crafted book … which opens up a new dimension of the Australian past and present; and which also, combined with its sheer literary merit, already has claims to become a ‘classic’ in the body of modern Australian historical writing.”

Tom Griffiths shares the award with Victorian writer Robert Kenny.