Johanna Bell's 'Department of the Vanishing' Wins 2025 Tasmanian Literary Award

Johanna Bell's novel 'Department of the Vanishing' has received the 2025 Tasmanian Literary Award. The book presents a fictional archive blending poetry, documentation, and imagery to explore themes of extinction and preservation. Protagonist Ava Wilde works as an archivist cataloging extinct bird species in a world without birdsong. The narrative structure incorporates transcripts, newspaper clippings, memos, and lists while examining Ava's personal relationships and climate anxiety. Published by Transit Lounge, the 300-page work merges fact with fiction through unconventional formatting. Some pages feature white text on dark backgrounds or photographs like an albatross carcass filled with plastic. Bell provides extensive source material details for curious readers. The novel's fragmented approach builds narrative tension through carefully paced revelations.