Holocaust author wins prestigious award
LEXI LANDSMAN
AUTHOR and Holocaust survivor Diane Armstrong has just been announced as the recipient of the Biennial Award for Fiction from the NSW Society of Women Writers.
Armstrong received the award for her novel, Nocturne, at Sydney’s Mitchell Library yesterday.
She told The AJN it seemed fitting that she received the award on the anniversary of Kristallnacht for Nocturne, which is “my tribute to people who were caught in the tragic events of World War II”.
“I’m thrilled to receive the award,” Armstrong said. “In writing Nocturne, I wanted to make sure that the heroism of the fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto, and the courage and suffering of the people who were caught up in the tragic events of World War II in Poland were not forgotten. So in a sense, this award is also a tribute to them.”
Nocturne is set against a backdrop of historical events including the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Warsaw Uprising, and the English bombing missions over Germany. Although the book is a work of fiction, the characters have been inspired by real people.
Armstrong was born in Cracow just before the war began, and survived the Holocaust with her parents thanks to a Catholic priest, who refused to let the villagers turn them over to the Gestapo.
Nocturne was published last year, with a second edition released in May.
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