And Carey certainly hadn't become blase by the time of his second and third wins. There are some pretty damned good writers on that list, so you're not going to be blase about that. The Miles Franklin is the one prize with the longest tradition. But winning has had little impact on how Carey approaches his writing. He is still bugged by fear of failure.
Writers never stop worrying.
You're always taking risks - that's your life, that's your business. Nothing can make you relax, because you're forever doing what you don't know how to do. One takes the risk and in the end the prize can't impinge on that. Carey says he didn't really think about prizes when he started writing. Winning the Miles Franklin seemed a big deal, but he hadn't been sitting around waiting for it or the Booker Prize, which he won in 1987 with Oscar and Lucinda .