Omar Musa Wins 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award

When Omar Musa learned he had won a major literary prize he did two things:

He froze in the middle of a road in the Philippines with traffic whizzing by.

And he called his mum.

"But not just me, anyone who's in the arts in Canberra or Queanbeyan would know my mother, Helen Musa."

The Malaysian-Australian grew up in Queanbeyan, close to Canberra, and on top of winning the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award for his novel Fierceland, he is a poet, hip hop artist, theatre performer and visual artist.

'Scallywaggery and privilege'

Musa's mother was a magazine editor and arts journalist who met his father in Malaysia when she directed him in the role of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

He said his childhood was a dichotomy of Queanbeyan's suburban streets and Canberra's privileged arts scene.

"I mean, growing up in Queanbeyan was great fun," he said.

"I was [also] able to go to a lot of exhibitions, a lot of theatre shows, a lot of concerts.

"And so I had a bit of a weird upbringing in that way, because growing up in the flats in Queanbeyan, but having this privileged sort of access to the arts was really inspiring, really generative."

He said while many boys his age were encouraged to express themselves physically through sport, his storytelling was nurtured.

"I was an only child, so I would just draw stuff or write my little dreamings and thoughts down."

"I'm still pretty much doing exactly the same thing."

21 drafts, 'tough slog'

Musa said his award-winning novel Fierceland had 21 drafts over at least five years.

"It's such a long, tough slog writing a novel and you're broke all the time," he said.

He said Fierceland followed the lives of two siblings who went to Malaysian Borneo for their father's funeral — a man who had a "rags to riches success story in modern Malaysia".

"But as you read on, you realise that he was one of the most corrupt logging and oil palm barons in Southeast Asia, and in fact the world, and was possibly responsible for the disappearance of people who stood in his way," Musa said.

"So it's a book about power, it's about complicity, it's about corruption, and it's about grappling with the ghosts of the past, whether it be the ghost of your father and how to mourn someone who you loved but [who] did terrible things, or the ghosts of colonialism and powerful men who tried to shape history to their will."

"I guess I was inspired to write this book by seeing the dark, complicated world of logging and oil palm and what it's done to my homeland of Malaysian Borneo."

Musa said he did a "hell of a lot of research" including speaking to people in the jungle in Borneo.

Queanbeyan's own Omar

Despite Musa's career soaring to national acclaim, he said he was "definitely a product of the Canberra-Queanbeyan arts scene".

Artistic director at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre Jordan Best said she knew Musa was destined for big things.

"I'm not at all surprised," Ms Best said.

"It's so wonderful in Omar's writing how deeply you can see how the region and community has informed his life and his creations."

"When someone from a little town like Queanbeyan wins a big award, it just proves art is everywhere."

Ms Best recently hosted a book launch for Musa's latest novel, The Vape Lord of Queanbeyan, with the night featuring a cello performance by his wife Mariel Roberts Musa.

Collins Booksellers in Queanbeyan owner Carlie Lloyd said The Vape Lord of Queanbeyan was the retailer's best selling book of the year so far.

While Fierceland has also been popular among locals and is currently sold out.

"It's so amazing. We're very proud of Omar. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy," Ms Lloyd said.