The Kibble Literary Awards comprise two awards—the Nita B Kibble Literary Award, which recognises the work of an established Australian female writer, and the Dobbie Literary Award, which is for a first published work by a female writer. The Awards recognise the works of

women writers Women have made significant contributions to literature since the earliest written texts. Women have been at the forefront of textual communication since early civilizations. History Among the first known female writers is Enheduanna; she is also ...

of fiction or non-fiction classified as 'life writing'. This includes novels, autobiographies, biographies, literature and any writing with a strong personal element. The Kibble Literary Awards were established in 1994 and are named in honour of

Nita Kibble Nita Kibble (1879–1962) was the first woman to be a librarian with the State Library of New South Wales. She held the position of Principal Research Librarian from 1919 until her retirement in 1943. Kibble was a founding member of the Austra ...

(1879–1962), who was the first woman to be a librarian with the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

. She was Principal Research Librarian from 1919 until her retirement in 1943, and was a founding member of the Australian Institute of Librarians. The Kibble Awards for Women Writers were established by Nita Dobbie, through her will, in recognition of her aunt, Nita Kibble, who had raised her from birth after her mother died.Kibble Awards for Women Writers
/ref> Miss Dobbie followed her aunt into the library profession. She believed there was a need to foster women’s writing in the community. The awards are currently worth A$35,000 in total. The Trust established for the award is managed by Perpetual Limited, and the award is administered in association with the State Library of New South Wales. Both awards were presented annually from their inception until 2016, when they were changed to biennial presentation.

Winners of the Nita B Kibble Literary Award for Women Writers

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

— not awarded *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

— ''The High Places'',

Fiona McFarlane Fiona McFarlane (born 1978) is an Australian author, best known for her book ''The Night Guest'' and her collection of short stories ''The High Places''. She is a recipient of the Voss Literary Prize, the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing a ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

— '' Small Acts of Disappearance'',

Fiona Wright Fiona Wright (born 1983) is an Australian poet and critic. Life and career Fiona Wright grew up in Menai, New South Wales. Wright has completed residencies including an Island of Residencies placement at the Tasmanian Writers' Centre in 2007. S ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

— '' The Golden Age'', Joan London *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

— ''Boy Lost: A Family Memoir'', Kristina Olsson *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

— '' The Beloved'',

Annah Faulkner Annah Faulkner (1949/1950 – 8 March 2022) was an Australian novelist. At the age of five, Faulkner moved with her parents to Papua New Guinea and later lived on Queensland's Sunshine Coast with her husband. She died in March 2022, after lea ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

— '' Five Bells'', Gail Jones *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

— '' Reading by Moonlight'',

Brenda Walker Brenda Walker (born 1957 in Grafton, New South Wales) is an Australian writer. She studied at the University of New England in Armidale and, after gaining a PhD in English (on the work of Samuel Beckett) at the Australian National University ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

— '' The Ghost at the Wedding'',

Shirley Walker Shirley Anne Walker (née Rogers; April 10, 1945 – November 30, 2006) was an American film and television composer and conductor. She was one of the few female film score composers working in Hollywood. Walker was one of the first female ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

— '' An Exacting Heart: The Story of Hephzibah Menuhin'', Jacqueline Kent *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

— '' Nights in the Asylum'', Carol Lefevre * 2007 — '' Careless'', Deborah Robertson *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

— ''

The Wing of Night ''The Wing of Night'' is a 2005 novel by Australian author Brenda Walker. Notes *"Dedication: For Tom" *Epigraph: "My own taste has always been for unwritten history and my present business is with the reverse of the picture." Henry James. Awa ...

'',

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

— ''Plenty'',

Gay Bilson Berowra Waters Inn is a restaurant, owned and run by Head Chef Brian Geraghty, located at Berowra Waters along Berowra Creek (a tributary of the Hawkesbury River), near Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, 50 minutes from downtown Sydney, Austra ...

* 2004 — '' That Oceanic Feeling'', Fiona Capp *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

— ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fictio ...

'', Gail Jones *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

— '' A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, A Literary Life'', Jacqueline Kent *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

— '' Tiger's Eye: A Memoir'',

Inga Clendinnen Inga Clendinnen, (; 17 August 1934 – 8 September 2016) was an Australian author, historian, anthropologist, and academic. Her work focused on social history, and the history of cultural encounters. She was an authority on Aztec civilisation a ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

— '' Stravinsky's Lunch'',

Drusilla Modjeska Drusilla Modjeska (born 1946) is a contemporary Australian writer and editor. Life Modjeska was born in London and was raised in Hampshire. She spent several years in Papua New Guinea (where she was briefly a student at the University of Pa ...

* 1999 — '' Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey From Down Under to All Over'', Geraldine Brooks * 1998 — '' Snake Cradle'',

Roberta Sykes Roberta "Bobbi" Sykes (16 August 194314 November 2010) was an Australian poet and author. She was a lifelong campaigner for Indigenous land rights, as well as human rights and women's rights. Early life and education Born Roberta Barkley Patt ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

— '' True Stories: Selected Non-Fiction'',

Helen Garner Helen Garner (née Ford, born 7 November 1942) is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. Garner's first novel, ''Monkey Grip (novel), Monkey Grip'', published in 1977, immediately established her as an origina ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

— '' Judy Cassab: Diaries'', Judy Cassab *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

— '' The Orchard'',

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

— '' Lovers' Knots: A Hundred-Year Novel'', Marion Halligan

Winners of the Dobbie Literary Award

— not awarded *

— ''The Trauma Cleaner'',

Sarah Krasnostein Sarah Krasnostein is an American-Australian non-fiction writer and legal academic. Education Krasnostein completed a BA/LLB (honours) degree from the University of Melbourne in 2005. She was admitted as an attorney of the State of New York i ...

— ''Salt Creek'' by

Lucy Treloar Lucy Treloar is an Australian novelist. Her first novel, ''Salt Creek'', won the 2016 Dobbie Literary Award and was shortlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin Award and the 2016 Walter Scott Prize. Her second novel, ''Wolfe Island'', won the 2020 ...

— ''Heat and Light'' by

Ellen van Neerven Ellen van Neerven (born 1990) is an Aboriginal Australian author, educator and editor. They are queer and non-binary. Their first work of fiction, ''Heat and Light'' (2013), won several awards, and in 2019 Van Neerven won the Queensland Premier ...

— ''Madness: A Memoir'' by Kate Richards *

— ''Toyo: A Memoir'', Lily Chan *

— '' Past The Shallows'',

Favel Parrett Favel Parrett (born 1974) is an Australian writer. Career Parrett's first novel, ''Past the Shallows'', was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award in 2012 and also that year won the Dobbie Literary Prize and Newcomer of the Year at the Aus ...

— ''Night Street'', Kristel Thornell *

— ''The Book of Emmett'', Deborah Forster *

— ''Fugitive Blue'', Claire Thomas *

— ''The Anatomy of Wings'', Karen Foxlee * 2007 — ''Swallow the Air'',

Tara June Winch Tara June Winch (born 1983) is an Australian writer. She is the 2020 winner of the Miles Franklin Award for her book ''The Yield''. Biography Tara June Winch was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia in 1983. Her father is from the Wi ...

— '' Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living'',

Carrie Tiffany Carrie Tiffany (born 1965) is an English-born Australian novelist and former park ranger. Biography Tiffany was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and migrated to Australia with her family in the early 1970s. She grew up in Perth, Western Australi ...

— ''The Secret World of Annette Robinson'', Paulette Gittins * 2004 — ''The Alphabet of Light and Dark'',

Danielle Wood Danielle Wood may refer to: * Danielle Wood (writer) (born 1972), Australian writer, journalist and academic * Danielle Wood (economist) (born 1979 or 1980), Australian economist and incoming chair of the Productivity Commission * Danielle Wood ( ...

— ''Off the Rails: The Pauline Hanson Trip'', Margo Kingston * 1999 — ''Hiam'',

Eva Sallis Eva Sallis (also Eva HornungDog’s ...

* 1998 — '' Steam Pigs'', Melissa Lucashenko *

— ''Listening for Small Sounds'', Pepe Trevor *

— ''My Own Sweet Time'', Leon Carmen (under the pseudonym Wanda Koolmatrie)

Shortlisted works for the Nita B Kibble Literary Award

Winners are listed in bold type.

* ''Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir'', Kristina Olsson (University of Queensland Press) * ''Letter to George Clooney'',

Debra Adelaide Debra Adelaide (born 1958) is an Australian novelist, writer and academic. She teaches creative writing at the University of Technology Sydney. Biography Adelaide was born in Sydney and grew up in the Sutherland Shire. A contemporary of writers ...

(Picador Australia) * ''

Mullumbimby Mullumbimby is an Australian town in the Byron Shire in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. It promotes itself as "The Biggest Little Town in Australia". The town lies at the foot of Mount Chincogan in the Brunswick Valley about 9 ...

'' - Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)

* ''The Beloved'',

(Pan Macmillan Australia) * ''

Questions of Travel ''Questions of Travel'' is a 2012 novel by Australian author Michelle de Kretser. It won the 2013 Miles Franklin Award and the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction. Description The novel concerns two main characters: Laura—an Au ...

'',

Michelle de Kretser Michelle de Kretser (born 1957) is an Australian novelist who was born in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), and moved to Australia in 1972 when she was 14. Education and literary career De Kretser was educated at Methodist College, Colombo, and in Melbou ...

(Allen & Unwin) * ''Like a House on Fire'',

Cate Kennedy Cate Kennedy (born 1963) is an Australian author based in Victoria. Life and career Kennedy graduated from the University of Canberra and has also taught at several colleges, including The University of Melbourne. She is the author of the hi ...

(Scribe)

*'' Five Bells'', Gail Jones *''

Foal's Bread ''Foal's Bread'' is a 2011 novel by Australian author Gillian Mears. It was the winner of the 2012 ALS Gold Medal, the Age Book of the Year for Fiction, the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction, and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award f ...

'',

Gillian Mears Gillian Mears (21 July 1964 – 16 May 2016) was an Australian short story writer and novelist. Her books ''Ride a Cock Horse'' and ''The Grass Sister'' won a Commonwealth Writers' Prize, shortlist, in 1989 and 1996, respectively. ''The Mint La ...

*''Animal People'',

Charlotte Wood Charlotte Wood (born 1965) is an Australian novelist. ''The Australian'' newspaper described Wood as "one of our ustralia'smost original and provocative writers". Biography Wood was born in Cooma, New South Wales. She is the author of six ...

*''Sydney'',

Delia Falconer Delia Falconer, born in Sydney in 1966, is an Australian novelist who became famous for her bestselling novel, The Service of Clouds. She has been nominated for multiple literary awards in recognition for her work. Biography Falconer is an on ...

*'' Barbara Hanrahan: A Biography'', Annette Stewart *'' Reading by Moonlight'',

*'' The Real Possibility of Joy'', Josephine Emery *''The China Garden'', Kristina Olsson *'' The Ghost at the Wedding'',

Short-list for Kibble and Dobbie Awards for women writers announced
/ref> *''Births Deaths and Marriages: True tales'',

Georgia Blain Georgia Frances Elise Blain (12 December 19649 December 2016) was an Australian novelist, journalist and biographer. Biography Born in Sydney in 1964 to journalist and broadcaster Anne Deveson (d. 2016) and broadcaster Ellis Blain (d. 1978), ...

*''An Exacting Heart: The story of Hephzibah Menuhin'', Jacqueline Kent *''The After Life: A memoir'',

Kathleen Stewart Kathleen Stewart (born 1958 Sydney) is an Australian writer. She has written eight novels, and published two books of poetry.2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

*'' Sorry'', Gail Jones *''Burning In'', Mireille Juchau *'' Nights in the Asylum'', Carol Lefevre 2007 *''Agamemnon's Kiss'',

*''Captain Starlight's Apprentice'', Kathryn Heyman *'' Dreams of Speaking'', Gail Jones *''Ida Leeson: A Life'', Sylvia Martin *'' Careless'', Deborah Robertson

*''

The Secret River ''The Secret River'' is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aborigi ...

'',

Kate Grenville Catherine Elizabeth Grenville (born 1950) is an Australian author. She has published fifteen books, including fiction, non-fiction, biography, and books about the writing process. In 2001, she won the Orange Prize for '' The Idea of Perfectio ...

*''The Butterfly Man'',

Heather Rose Heather Rose (born 1964) is an Australian author born in Hobart, Tasmania. She is the author of the acclaimed memoir Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here. She is best known for her novels ''The Museum of Modern Love'', which won the 2017 Stella Prize, ...

*''

'',

*''Plenty'',

*''

Joe Cinque's Consolation ''Joe Cinque's Consolation: A True Story of Death, Grief and the Law'' is a non-fiction book written by Australian author Helen Garner, and published in 2004. It is an account of Garner's presence at the separate trials of Anu Singh and her fr ...

'',

*''The Broken Book'', Susan Johnson 2004 *''Shot'', Gail Bell *''The End of Equality'',

Anne Summers Anne Summers AO (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian writer and columnist, best known as a leading feminist, editor and publisher. She was formerly First Assistant Secretary of the Office of the Status of Women in the Department of the Prime M ...

*'' That Oceanic Feeling'', Fiona Capp

*''

'', Gail Jones *''The Truth About My Fathers'', Gaby Naher *''The Boyds: A Family Biography'',

Brenda Niall Dr Brenda Mary Niall (born 25 November 1930) is an Australian biographer, literary critic and journalist. She is particularly noted for her work on Australia's well-known Boyd family of artists and writers. Educated at Genazzano FCJ College, ...

*''The Fog Garden'', Marion Halligan *''A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, A Literary Life'', Jacqueline Kent *''Other People's Words'', Hilary McPhee

*'' Tiger's Eye: A Memoir'',

*''Journey from Venice'',

Ruth Cracknell Ruth Winifred Cracknell AM (6 July 1925 – 13 May 2002) was an Australian character and comic actress, comedienne and author, her career encompassing all genres including radio, theatre, television and film. She appeared in many dramatic as we ...

*'' Stravinsky's Lunch'',

*''Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop'',

Amy Witting Amy Witting (26 January 1918 – 18 September 2001) was the pen name of an Australian novelist and poet born Joan Austral Fraser. She was widely acknowledged as one of Australia's "finest fiction writers, whose work was full of the atmosphere an ...

1999 *'' Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey From Down Under to All Over'', Geraldine Brooks 1998 *''Glass After Glass: Autobiographical Reflections'',

Barbara Blackman Barbara Blackman ( Patterson; born 22 December 1928) is an Australian writer, poet, librettist, broadcaster, model and patron of the arts. In 2004, she donated $1 million to a number of Australian music organisations, including Pro Musica, the A ...

*'' Snake Cradle'',

*''Paradise Mislaid: In Search of the Australian Tribe of Paraguay'', Anne Whitehead

*''Night Surfing'', Fiona Capp *''The Service of Clouds'',

*'' True Stories: Selected Non-Fiction'',

*''Judy Cassab: Diaries'', Judy Cassab *''Caravanserai: Journey among Australian Muslims'',

Hanifa Deen Hanifa Deen is an Australian writer, of Pakistani ancestry. She won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Ethnic Affairs Commission Award in 1996, and her book, ''The Jihad Seminar'', was short-listed for the 2008 Human Rights Awards ...

*''Auntie Rita'', Rita Cynthia Huggins and

Jackie Huggins Jacqueline Gail "Jackie" Huggins (born 19 August 1956) is an Aboriginal Australian author, historian, academic and advocate for the rights of Indigenous Australians. She is a Bidjara/Pitjara, Birri Gubba and Juru woman from Queensland. she ...

*''The World Waiting to be Made'', Simone Lazaroo *''The Orchard'',

*''Georgiana'',

*''Heddy and me'', Susan Varga

*'' Lovers' Knots: A Hundred-Year Novel'', Marion Halligan

References

{{Authority control Australian literary awards Awards established in 1994 Literary awards honoring women 1994 establishments in Australia

Winners of the Nita B Kibble Literary Award for Women Writers

Winners of the Dobbie Literary Award

Shortlisted works for the Nita B Kibble Literary Award

See also

References