The Chinese translations of 10 Miles Franklin Award-winning novels have just been launched, bringing readers some of the best contemporary work and offering deep insights into Australian society.

"We chose them to promote a kind of cultural dialogue, between China and Australia, because Chinese people get to know Australian culture mainly through the popular novel, The Thorn Birds, which we think is not enough," says Professor Wang Guanglin, director of the Australian Studies Center at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade. The Australian Literary Translation Project, which commenced in 2007, is a joint initiative of the Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai and the center.

At a luncheon event held at the Australian Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo on Oct 26 to mark the completion of the project, Wang also talked about the challenges of his center embarking upon such a huge undertaking, and the significance of this project to translated Australian literature in China.

Miles Franklin (1879-1954) was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her autobiographical novel, My Brilliant Career (1901). She was committed to the development of a uniquely Australian form of literature, and actively pursued this goal by supporting writers, literary journals, and writers' organizations.

"The Miles Franklin literary award is Australia's most prestigious," says Professor of Australian literature Robert Dixon, a former judge of the Miles Franklin award. "It was formed out of the will of Miles Franklin, who made a space for authentic Australian writing to emerge, independently of the old culture of Europe and the new, very dominating culture of the United States."

The prize is awarded annually to the best Australian novel on Australian life and culture.

Wang translated one of the books, Brian Castro's Shanghai Dancing, which is a dazzling meditation on identity, language and disorientation. He says that the translations have been carefully done to keep the original tone and voice of the author.

Other titles in the range include Thomas Keneally's Three Cheers for the Paraclete, David Malouf's The Great World and indigenous author Archie Weller's Day Of The Dog. They are available through Xinhua Bookstores, and the Australian embassy and consulates