Rod Jones’ first novel, "Julia Paradise", won the Fiction Award in the South Australian Premier's Awards in 1988, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and was runner-up for the Femina Etranger Prize in Paris. It has been translated into ten languages and published throughout the world, most recently as a 2013 Text Classic, with an introduction by Emily Maguire. "Julia Paradise" was described by the New York Times as ‘. . . utterly original . . . a remarkable accomplishment’.