Wilson received the $25,000 prize at a ceremony on Wednesday night for his novel To Name Those Lost, based on the Launceston riots of 1874.

‘‘It was a bit of a surprise when we found out, but it’s sort of sunk in now,’’ he said.

‘‘I just found out beforehand, when they rang to make sure I’d be able to make it there.

‘‘When they called me, I said, ‘oh look, no way, there’s no way I can make it.’ But they needed me there so we just sort of had to move things around.

‘‘Once you find out you’re the winner it’s pretty easy to make time for that kind of thing. We left Launceston Sunday night and drove all the way [to Brisbane] on Tuesday night, and then straight on the plane the next morning back to Melbourne.’’

To Name Those Lost features Thomas Toosey, who was also a character in Wilson’s first novel The Roving Party. 

‘‘I’m writing a book now that is set in Tasmania as well, but it’s in the future, it’s set in 2074,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m trying to figure out if I can find one of Thomas’ ancestors there. A Toosey might pop up in this book somewhere.

‘‘I’m sort of hoping that they do, but I don’t have a lot of control over that. If it fits into the story then it happens, but if it doesn’t it’s just sort of too bad.’’

Wilson said he did not expect his next book to be finished before 2017.