The National Biography Award, established in Australia in 1996, is awarded for the best published work of biographical or autobiographical writing by an Australian. It aims "to encourage the highest standards of writing

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

and

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

and to promote public interest in those genres".State Library of New South Wales It was initially awarded every two years, but from 2002 it has been awarded annually. Its administration was taken over by 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 ...

in 1998.

History of the Award

It was originally endowed by private benefactor, Dr. Geoffrey Cains, and the original prize money was $12,500. In 2002, Cains said of endowing the award that "I wanted to give back to literature something, it had given me so much; besides, philanthropy in this country is so overlooked and diminished". In 2005, the prize money was increased to $20,000 with the support of Michael Crouch.State Library of New South Wales (2005)

Belinda Hutchinson Belinda Jane Hutchinson (born 4 August 1953) is an Australian businessperson, accountant and philanthropist. Education Hutchinson graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics degree in 1976. Career She was a member of ...

, former President of the Library Council of NSW, expressed gratitude for this increase to "an award that celebrates the Australian psyche through distinguished biography writing." In 2012 the prize money for the Award has been increased to $25,000. Since 2013, each shortlisted author receives $1,000. The judging panel varies from year to year. In 2018 the Michael Crouch Award was introduced for an Australian writer's first published biography. The shortlist is announced in early July each year, followed by the winner announcement in early August.

Winners

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Bernadette Brennan Bernadette is a French name, a female form of the name Bernard, which means "brave bear". Notable persons with the name include: People * Bernadette (singer) (born 1959), Dutch singer * Bernadette Allen (born 1956), American foreign service of ...

for ''Leaping into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears'' *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Cassandra Pybus Cassandra Jean Pybus (born 29 September 1947) is an Australian historian and writer. She is a former professorial fellow in history at the University of Sydney, and has published extensively on Australian and American history. Pybus was born i ...

for ''Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse'' *

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- ...

: Patrick Mullins for ''Tiberius with a Telephone: The Life and Stories of William McMahon'' *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Behrouz Boochani Behrouz Boochani ( fa, بهروز بوچانی; born 23 July 1983) is a Iranian Kurdistan, Kurdish-Iranian journalist, human rights defender, writer and film producer living in New Zealand. He was held in the Australian-run Manus Regional Proce ...

for '' No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison'' *

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 ...

Judith Brett Judith Brett (born 1949, Melbourne) is an Emeritus Professor of politics at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. She retired from La Trobe in 2012, after a restructuring of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in which the School of ...

for ''The Enigmatic Mr Deakin'' *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Tom D C Roberts
for ''Before Rupert: Keith Murdoch and the Birth of a Dynasty'' *

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 ...

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, ...

for ''Mannix'' *

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 ...

: Philip Butterss for ''An Unsentimental Bloke: The Life and Work of C J Dennis'' *

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 ...

: Alison Alexander for ''The Ambitions of Jane Franklin: Victorian Lady Adventurer'' *

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 ...

: Peter Fitzpatrick for ''The Two Frank Thrings'' *

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 ...

: Martin Thomas for ''The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews: In Search of an Australian Anthropologist'' *

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 ...

: Alasdair McGregor for ''Grand Obsessions: The Life and Work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin'' *

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 ...

: Brian Matthews for ''Manning Clark: A Life'' *

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 ...

: Ann Blainey for ''I am Melba'' *

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; ...

: Joint winners ** Philip Dwyer for ''Napoleon, 1769-1799: The Path to Power'' ** Graham Seal for ''These Few Lines: A Convict Story – The Lost Lives of Myra and William Sykes'' *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

: Jacob Rosenberg for ''East of Time'' *

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 ...

: John Hughes for ''The Idea of Home'' *

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 ...

: Robert Hillman for ''The Boy in the Green Suit'' *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

: Barry Hill for ''Broken Song: T.G.H. Strehlow and Aboriginal Possession'' *

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 ...

: Joint winners ** Peter Rose for ''Rose Boys'' **

Don Watson Don Watson (born 1949) is an Australian author, screenwriter, former political adviser, and speechwriter. Early life Watson was born in 1949 at Warragul in the Gippsland region of Victoria, and grew up on a farm in nearby Korumburra. Academi ...

for ''Recollections of a Bleeding Heart : a Portrait of Paul Keating PM'' *

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 ...

Jacqueline Kent Jacqueline Frances Kent (born 1947) is an Australian journalist, biographer and non-fiction writer. She is also known as Jacquie Kent, the name she used when writing young adult fiction in the 1990s and sometimes writes as Frances Cook. Career ...

for ''A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, a Literary Life'' *2000: Joint winners ** Peter Robb for ''M, a biography of European painter Caravaggio'' ** Mandy Sayer for ''Dreamtime Alice: a Memoir'' *1998:

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 ...

for ''Snake Cradle'' *1996: Abraham Biderman for ''The World of My Past''

National Biography Award Lecture

In 2003, the National Biography Award lecture was instituted. It is associated with the award, and was also sponsored by Cains and Crouch. It is given annually, but takes place during the same week as the announcement of the winner. *2018: ''Unauthorised'', by Tom D C Roberts *2017: ''A tale finds its teller: writing the biography of Thea Astley,'' by Karen Lamb *2016: ''For better or worse: The relationship between biographer and subject,'' by Philip Butterss *2015: ''Biography and me: notes on the wonders of others (and some on self)'', by Kim Williams AM *2014: ''Based on a true story'', by

Linda Jaivin Linda Jaivin (born 27 March 1955)John Elder Robison John Elder Robison (born August 13, 1957) is the American author of the 2007 memoir '' Look Me in the Eye'', detailing his life with undiagnosed Asperger syndrome and savant abilities, and of three other books. Robison has had several careers. In ...

*2012: ''Looking for Eliza'' by

Evelyn Juers Evelyn Juers (born 6 March 1950) is an Australian writer and publisher. Juers was born in Neritz, Germany, moved to Australia in 1960, and has lived in Hamburg, Sydney, London and Geneva. She has a PhD from University of Essex on the Bront ...

*2011: ''Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM'', by

*2010: ''Biography: The Art of the Impossible'', by Hilary McPhee AO *2009: ''‘Truth’ as applied to biography and autobiography'', by

Raimond Gaita Raimond Gaita (born Raimund Gaita; 14 May 1946) is a German-born Australian philosopher and award-winning writer. He was, until 2011, foundation professor of philosophy at the Australian Catholic University and professor of moral philosophy at ...

*2008: ''Biography, Autobiography and Memoir: Presidential Bests and Worsts'', by

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later en ...

*2007: ''Biography: The Impossible Art'', by

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 ...

Inga Clendinnen on the impossibility of biography *2006: ''Materials for Life: The Enduring Value of Biography'', by

Robyn Archer Robyn Archer, AO, CdOAL (born 1948) is an Australian singer, writer, stage director, artistic director, and public advocate of the arts, in Australia and internationally. Life Archer was born Robyn Smith in Prospect, South Australia. She beg ...

*2005: ''Personal Drama: David Williamson on Self-depiction'', by

David Williamson David Keith Williamson Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australians, Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays. Early life David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Vi ...

*2004: ''The Observed of all Observers: Biography in Poetry'', by

Peter Porter (poet) Peter Neville Frederick Porter OAM (16 February 192923 April 2010) was a British-based Australian poet. Life Porter was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1929. His mother, Marion, died of a burst gall-bladder in 1938. He was educated at the Ang ...

*2003: ''Goethe's Two Left Feet: Reflections on the Hazards and Liberties of Biography'', by Peter Rose (writer)

References

{{reflist

External links

Bennie, Angela (2005) "Award draws people with a tale to tell" in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 23 February 2005
* ttp://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2007/2080177.htm "Inga Clendinnen on the impossibility of biography" (lecture), on ABC Radio National ''The Book Show'', 2007-11-09Accessed: 2007-11-09
Knox, Malcolm (2003) 'Dual winners in Biography Prize's latest chapter' in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 14 March 2003State Library of New South Wales, National Biography Award Home Page
Biography awards Australian literary awards Awards established in 1996