The Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards (PMLA) were announced at the end of 2007 by the incoming First Rudd ministry following the 2007 election. They are administered by the Minister for the Arts.Call for entries (22 February 2008)
The awards were designed as "a new initiative celebrating the contribution of Australian literature to the nation's cultural and intellectual life." The awards are held annually and initially provided a tax-free prize of A$100,000 in each category, making it Australia's richest literary award in total. In 2011, the prize money was split into $80,000 for each category winner and $5,000 for up to four short-listed entries. The award was initially given in four categories – fiction, non-fiction, young adult and children's fiction – as selected by three judging panels. In 2012, a poetry category was added and the former
Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History
The Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History was created by the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard following the Australian History Summit held in Canberra on 17 August 2006. The Summit looked at how the Australian government could s ...
was incorporated into the award. "The awards are open to works written by Australian citizens and permanent residents. Authors, publishers and literary agents are eligible to enter works, first published in the calendar year prior to the awards."PM Literary Awards /ref>
Winners
2008 awards
2008 panels
For the inaugural
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; ...
awards, six Australians were appointed by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts to the judging panels: three each for the fiction and non-fiction awards.2008 judging panels
2008 shortlist and winners
The final decisions on the shortlist and winners for the awards was made by Prime Minister (
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
) based on the judging panels' recommendations. The following entries, out of more than 170 received, were selected for the shortlist:
:''Listed in official shortlist order; winners in bold type.''
Malcolm Knox
Sir Thomas Malcolm Knox (28 November 1900 – 6 April 1980) was a British philosopher who served as Principal of St Andrews University from 1953–1966 and Vice-president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1975–1978.
Biography
Knox ...
David Malouf
David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Que ...
Tom Keneally
Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel '' Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, ...
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century.
Specializing in English and women's literat ...
Paul Ham
Paul Ham is an Australian author, historian, journalist and publisher, who writes on the 20th century history of war, politics and diplomacy. He lives in Sydney and Paris.
Life and career
Between 1984 and 1998 Ham worked in London as a business ...
2009 awards
2009 panels
On 15 May 2009 the panels for the 2009 awards were announced.
2009 shortlist and winners
The 2009 shortlist from more than 250 entries was announced on Friday 18 September 2009 in Melbourne. The winners were announced on 2 November 2009. Two works shared the non-fiction award.
:''Listed in official shortlist order; winners in bold type.''
2009 fiction
*''
The Pages
The Pages is an island group in the Australian state of South Australia consisting of two small islands and a reef located in Backstairs Passage, a strait separating Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula. The island group has been loca ...
People of the Book
People of the Book or Ahl al-kitāb ( ar, أهل الكتاب) is an Islamic term referring to those religions which Muslims regard as having been guided by previous revelations, generally in the form of a scripture. In the Quran they are ident ...
Peter Goldsworthy
Peter David Goldsworthy AM (born 12 October 1951) is an Australian writer and medical practitioner. He has won major awards for his short stories, poetry, novels, and opera libretti.
Goldsworthy began his writing life as a poet, as described i ...
*''One Foot Wrong'' by
Sofie Laguna
Sofie Laguna (born 1968) is an Australian writer. She was born in Sydney and studied law before deciding that being a lawyer was not for her. She has worked as an actor and is now a writer and playwright. She now lives in Melbourne.
Awards
...
The Good Parents
''The Good Parents'' is the second full-length novel written by Joan London. It was first published in 2008.
The book concerns an eighteen-year-old girl, Maya de Jong, who moves to Melbourne and becomes involved in a relationship with her boss. ...
Diemen
Diemen () is a town and municipality with a population of in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is located approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Amsterdam's city centre, within the Amsterdam metropolitan area.
Etymology
The name ...
's Land'' by James Boyce
*''Doing Life: A Biography of
Elizabeth Jolley
Monica Elizabeth Jolley AO (4 June 1923 – 13 February 2007) was an English-born Australian writer who settled in Western Australia in the late 1950s and forged an illustrious literary career there. She was 53 when her first book was publishe ...
'' by Brian Dibble
*''
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...
Chloe Hooper
Chloe Melisande Hooper (born 1973) is an Australian author.
Her first novel, ''A Child’s Book of True Crime'' (2002), was short-listed for the Orange Prize for Literature and was a ''New York Times'' Notable Book. In 2005, she turned to rep ...
*''House of Exile: The Life and Times of
Heinrich Mann
Luiz Heinrich Mann (; 27 March 1871 – 11 March 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German author known for his socio-political novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the Prussian Academy ...
and Nelly-Kroeger Mann'' 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 Brontë ...
Henson Henson may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places United States
* Henson, Colorado, a ghost town
* Henson, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Henson Creek, Colorado
* Henson Branch, Missouri, a stream
Antarctica
* Mount Henson, Ross Dependency
Other ...
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 ...
2010 awards
On 30 March 2010 two new award categories were announced: "young adults' fiction" and "children's fiction". The prize for both new awards was also $100,000; its entries were judged by one judging panel.
2010 panels
On 14 May 2010 the panels for the 2010 awards were announced.
2010 shortlist and winners
From over 330 entries, the 2010 shortlist of 29 titles was announced on 15 July 2010. The winners were announced on 8 November 2010.
:''Listed in official shortlist order; winners in bold type.''
J. M. Coetzee
John Maxwell Coetzee OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in ...
*''The Book of Emmett'' by Deborah Forster
*''The Lakewoman'' by Alan Gould
*'' Dog Boy'' by
David Malouf
David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Que ...
Alex Miller
Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequen ...
*''The Water Dreamers: The Remarkable History of Our Dry Continent'' by Michael Cathcart
*''Strange Places: A Memoir of Mental Illness'' by Will Elliott
*''The Colony: A History of Early Sydney'' by Grace Karskens
*''The Life and Death of Democracy'' by John Keane
*''The Blue Plateau: A Landscape Memoir'' by Mark Tredinnick
*''The Ghost at the Wedding'' by Shirley Walker
2010 young adult fiction
*''
Stolen
Stolen may refer to:
* ''Stolen'' (2009 Australian film), a 2009 Australian film
* ''Stolen'' (2009 American film), a 2009 American film
* ''Stolen: The Baby Kahu Story'' (2010 film), a film based on the real life kidnapping of baby Kahu Durie ...
'' by
Lucy Christopher
Lucy Christopher is a British/Australian author best known for her novel '' Stolen'', which won the Branford Boase award 2010 in the UK, and the 2010 Gold Inky in Australia. Her second book, ''Flyaway'', was shortlisted for the 2010 Costa Book A ...
*''The Winds of Heaven'' by Judith Clarke
*''Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God'' by Bill Condon
*''The Museum of Mary Child'' by Cassandra Golds
*''Swerve'' by Phillip Gwynne
*''Jarvis 24'' by David Metzenthen
*''Beatle Meets Destiny'' by Gabrielle Williams
2010 children's fiction
*''Cicada Summer'' by Kate Constable
*''The Terrible Plop'' by
Ursula Dubosarsky
Ursula Dubosarsky (born ''Ursula Coleman''; 1961 in Sydney) is an Australian writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults, whose work is characterised by a child's vision and comic voice of both clarity and ambiguity. She ha ...
, illustrated by Andrew Joyner
*''
Just Macbeth!
''Just Macbeth'' is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth''. It was written by Australian children’s author Andy Griffiths and produced by Bell Shakespeare as well as being released as a book.
Cast
Patrick Brammall as Andy
...
Terry Denton
Terry Denton (born 26 July 1950) is an Australian illustrator and author. He is married and has three children. He is the second youngest of five boys and was born and grew up in Melbourne, Victoria. Denton now lives in Mornington, Victoria.
Den ...
*''Mr Chicken Goes to Paris'' by Leigh Hobbs
*''Running with the Horses'' by Alison Lester
*''Star Jumps'' by Lorraine Marwood
*''Mannie and the Long Brave Day'' by Martine Murray, illustrated by Sally Rippin
*''Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children'' by Jen Storer
*''Harry and Hopper'' by
Margaret Wild
Margaret Wild (born 1948) is an Australian children's writer. She has written more than 40 books for children. Her work has been published around the world and has won several awards. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Childre ...
, illustrated by
Freya Blackwood
Freya Blackwood (born 1975) is an Australian illustrator and special effects artist. She worked on special effects for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy from 2001 to 2003 and won the Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration ...
2011 awards
Entries for the 2011 awards opened in January 2011 and an annual timetable was implemented: the shortlist was announced in late May and winners in early July. The awards were restructured to provide greater recognition for shortlisted authors. In each category, the winning book was awarded $80,000; $5,000 was awarded to up to four shortlisted titles. The eligibility criteria were extended to include
e-book
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
s, and wordless picture books were eligible in the children's fiction category. The panellists from 2010 were returned for 2011.
2011 shortlist and winners
From 379 entries, the 2011 shortlist of 20 titles was announced on 26 May 2011. The winners, listed below in bold type, were announced on 8 July 2011.
2011 fiction
*''
Traitor
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
Kim Scott
Kim Scott (born 18 February 1957) is an Australian novelist of Aboriginal Australian ancestry. He is a descendant of the Noongar people of Western Australia.
Biography
Scott was born in Perth in 1957 and is the eldest of four siblings with a ...
2011 non-fiction
*''Sydney'' by
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 ...
Richard McGregor
Richard McGregor (born 1958) is an Australian journalist, writer, and author. He is currently working as a Senior Fellow at the Lowey Insititute based in Sydney, Australia. He previously was based in Japan and also other locations such as Shangh ...
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss (, ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social An ...
: The Poet in the Laboratory'' by Patrick Wilcken
2011 young adult fiction
*''Good Oil'' by Laura Buzo
*''Graffiti Moon'' by Cath Crowley
*''The Three Loves of Persimmon'' by Cassandra Golds
*''About a Girl'' by Joanne Horniman
*''The Piper's Son'' by
Melina Marchetta
Carmelina Marchetta (born 25 March 1965) is an Australian writer and teacher. Marchetta is best known as the author of teen novels, '' Looking for Alibrandi'', ''Saving Francesca'' and '' On the Jellicoe Road''. She has twice been awarded the C ...
Lucy Christopher
Lucy Christopher is a British/Australian author best known for her novel '' Stolen'', which won the Branford Boase award 2010 in the UK, and the 2010 Gold Inky in Australia. Her second book, ''Flyaway'', was shortlisted for the 2010 Costa Book A ...
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 gat ...
awards were launched in early December 2011; entries closed on 1 February 2012. A new award for poetry was announced and the Prize for Australian History was incorporated. The winners, listed below in bold type, were announced on 23 July 2012.
2012 panels
The panels for the 2012 awards consist of:
2012 shortlist and winners
From 509 entries, the 2012 shortlist of 25 titles was announced on 20 March 2012.
Anna Funder
Anna Funder (born 1966) is an Australian author. She is the author of ''Stasiland'' and '' All That I Am'' and the novella ''The Girl With the Dogs''.
Life
Funder went to primary school in Melbourne and Paris; she attended Star of the Sea Coll ...
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 ...
Alex Miller
Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequen ...
*''Ashes in the Air'' by Ali Alizadeh
*''Interferon Psalms'' by Luke Davies
*''Armour'' by John Kinsella
*''Southern Barbarians'' by
John Mateer
John Mateer (born 1971) is a South African-born Australian poet and author.
Early life and education
He was born in Roodepoort, South Africa in 1971, and grew up on the outskirts of Johannesburg. He spent some of his childhood in Canada, before ...
*''New and Selected Poems'' by
Gig Ryan
Gig Ryan, born Elizabeth Anne Martina Ryan November 5, 1956, is an Australian poet. She is a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award.
Biography
Ryan was born in Leicester, England in 1956. Her father is the Australian surgeon Peter Joh ...
2012 non-fiction
*''A Short History of Christianity'' by
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Norman Blainey (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, best selling author and commentator. He is noted for having written authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including '' The Tyranny ...
*'' Michael Kirby Paradoxes and Principles'' by Alexander Jonathan (A. J.) Brown
*''Kinglake-350'' by Adrian Hyland
*''When Horse Became Saw'' by Anthony Macris
*''An Eye for Eternity: The Life of
Manning Clark
Charles Manning Hope Clark, (3 March 1915 – 23 May 1991) was an Australian historian and the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume ''A History of Australia'', published between 1962 and 1987. He has been descri ...
*''1835: The Founding of Melbourne and the Conquest of Australia'' by James Boyce
*''The Biggest Estate on Earth'' by
Bill Gammage
William Leonard Gammage (born 1942) is an Australian academic historian, adjunct professor and senior research fellow at the Humanities Research Centre of the Australian National University (ANU).
Gammage was born in Orange, New South Wales, ...
*''Breaking the Sheep's Back'' by Charles Massy
*''Indifferent Inclusion: Aboriginal people and the Australian Nation'' by Russell McGregor
*''Immigration Nation: The Secret History of Us'' by Renegade Films Australia
2012 young adult fiction
*''A Straight Line to My Heart'' by Bill Condon
*''Being Here'' by Barry Jonsberg
*''Pan's Whisper'' by Sue Lawson
*''When We Were Two'' by Robert Newton
*''Alaska'' by Sue Saliba
2012 children's fiction
*''Evangeline, The Wish Keeper's Helper'' by Maggie Alderson
*''The Jewel Fish of Karnak'' by Graeme Base
*''Father's Day'' by
Anne Brooksbank
Anne Mary Brooksbank (born 1943) is an Australian writer. She has written a number of novels as well as scripts for film and TV.
She teaches screenwriting at The Australian Film Television and Radio School.
Personal life
She was born in Melbour ...
*''Come Down, Cat!'', written by
Sonya Hartnett
Sonya Louise Hartnett (born 1968) is an Australian author of fiction for adults, young adults, and children. She has been called "the finest Australian writer of her generation". For her career contribution to "children's and young adult liter ...
and illustrated by Lucia Masciullo
*''Goodnight, Mice!'', written by Frances Watts and illustrated by Judy Watson
2013 awards
The
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 fa ...
awards were launched in late 2012; entries closed on 17 January 2013.
2013 panels
The panels for the 2013 awards consist of:
2013 shortlist and winners
The 2013 shortlist of 29 titles was announced on 17 June 2013. The winners, listed below in bold type, were announced on 15 August 2013 at the State Library of Queensland.
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 Melbo ...
*''Lost Voices'' by
Christopher Koch
Christopher John Koch AO (16 July 1932 – 23 September 2013) was an Australian novelist, known for his 1978 novel '' The Year of Living Dangerously'', which was adapted into an award-winning film. He twice won the Miles Franklin Award (for ' ...
*''Burning Rice'' by Eileen Chong
*''The Sunlit Zone'' by Lisa Jacobson
*''Jam Tree Gully: Poems'' by John Kinsella
*''Liquid Nitrogen'' by
Jennifer Maiden
Jennifer Maiden (born 1949) is an Australian poet. She was born in Penrith, New South Wales, and has had 36 books published: 28 poetry collections, 6 novels and 2 nonfiction works. Her current publishers are Quemar Press in Australia and Bloo ...
Malcolm Knox
Sir Thomas Malcolm Knox (28 November 1900 – 6 April 1980) was a British philosopher who served as Principal of St Andrews University from 1953–1966 and Vice-president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1975–1978.
Biography
Knox ...
*''Uncommon Soldier'' by
Chris Masters
Christopher Todd Mordetzky (born January 8, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) under the ring name Chris Adonis as a member of Strictly Business. He is a former two-time National Ch ...
*''Plein Airs and Graces'' by Adrian Mitchell
*''The Australian Moment'' by George Megalogenis
*''Bold Palates'' by Barbara Santich
2013 Prize for Australian History
*''The Sex Lives of Australians: A History'' by
Frank Bongiorno
Francis Robert Bongiorno, (born 1969) is an Australian historian, academic and author. He is a professor of history at the Australian National University, and was head of the university's history department from 2018 to 2020. Bongiorno is the P ...
*''Sandakan'' by
Paul Ham
Paul Ham is an Australian author, historian, journalist and publisher, who writes on the 20th century history of war, politics and diplomacy. He lives in Sydney and Paris.
Life and career
Between 1984 and 1998 Ham worked in London as a business ...
*''
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...
'' by Jenny Hocking
*''Farewell, dear people'' by Ross McMullin
*''The Censor's Library'' by Nicole Moore
2013 young adult fiction
*''Everything Left Unsaid'' by Jessica Davidson
*''The Children of the King'' by
Sonya Hartnett
Sonya Louise Hartnett (born 1968) is an Australian author of fiction for adults, young adults, and children. She has been called "the finest Australian writer of her generation". For her career contribution to "children's and young adult liter ...
*''Grace Beside Me'' by Sue McPherson
*''Fog a Dox'' by Bruce Pascoe
*''Friday Brown'' by Vikki Wakefield
2013 children's fiction
*''Red'' by
Libby Gleeson
Libby Gleeson AM (born 1950) is an Australian children's author. Born in Young, New South Wales, she is one of six children, the sister of former ABC TV Washington Correspondent Michael Gleeson, and the mother of ''Home and Away'' actress Je ...
*''Today We Have No Plans'' by Jane Godwin and illustrated by Anna Walker
*''What's the Matter, Aunty May?'' by Peter Friend and illustrated by Andrew Joyner
*''The Beginner's Guide to Revenge'' by Marianne Musgrove
2014 awards
The
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 ...
awards were launched in December 2013; entries closed on 28 February 2014. The winners, listed below in bold type, were announced on 8 December 2014.
2014 panels
The panels for the 2014 awards consist of:
2014 shortlist and winners
The 2014 shortlist of 30 titles was announced on 19 October 2014.
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 ...
Alex Miller
Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequen ...
*''Belomor'' by
Nicolas Rothwell
Nicolas Rothwell is a journalist and the Northern Australia correspondent for ''The Australian'' newspaper. He is also an award-winning writer with several works of non-fiction to his name.
Background
Rothwell is the child of Czech and Australi ...
Gabrielle Carey
Gabrielle Carey (born 10 January 1959) is an Australian writer noted for the teen novel, '' Puberty Blues'', which she co-wrote with Kathy Lette. This novel was the first teenage novel published in Australia that was written by teenagers. Carey ...
(joint winner)
*''The Lucky Culture'' by
Nick Cater
Nicholas Charles Cater is a British-born Australian journalist and author who writes on culture and politics. He is a columnist for ''The Australian'' newspaper.
Early life and education
Cater was born in Billericay, Essex, and grew up in Hyth ...
Helen Trinca
Helen Trinca is an Australian journalist and author. She has been managing editor and as is associate editor at ''The Australian''.
Background
Trinca was born in Perth and graduated from the city's University of Western Australia with a BA in ...
(joint winner)
2014 Prize for Australian History
*''Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War'' by Joan Beaumont (joint winner)
*''First Victory 1914'' by
Mike Carlton
Michael James Carlton, (born 31 January 1946) is an Australian former media commentator, radio host, television journalist, author and newspaper columnist. He formerly co-hosted the daily breakfast program on Sydney radio station 2UE with Peter ...
*''Australia's Secret War: How Unionists Sabotaged Our Troops in World War II'' by Hal G.P. Colebatch (joint winner)
*'' Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy'' by Michael Pembroke
*''The Forgotten Rebels of
Eureka
Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
Felicity Castagna
Felicity Castagna is an Award winning Australian writer. She won the young adult fiction prize at the 2014 Prime Minister's Literary Awards for her book, ''The Incredible Here and Now''. She won the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards for her ...
*''Pureheart'' by Cassandra Golds
*''Girl Defective'' by Simmone Howell
*''Life in Outer Space'' by Melissa Keil
*''The First Third'' by Will Kostakis
2014 children's fiction
*''Silver Buttons'' by Bob Graham
*''Song for a Scarlet Runner'' by Julie Hunt
*''My Life as an Alphabet'' by Barry Jonsberg
*''Kissed by the Moon'' by Alison Lester
*''Rules of Summer'' by
Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan (born 1973) is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for '' The Lost Thing'', a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Other books he has written and illustrated inc ...
2015 awards
The 2015 awards were launched in December 2014; entries closed on 28 February 2015.
2015 panels
The panels for the 2015 awards consist of:
2015 shortlist and winners
The 2015 shortlist of 30 titles was announced on 23 November 2015. The winners were announced in Sydney on 14 December 2015.
Sonya Hartnett
Sonya Louise Hartnett (born 1968) is an Australian author of fiction for adults, young adults, and children. She has been called "the finest Australian writer of her generation". For her career contribution to "children's and young adult liter ...
Rohan Wilson
Rohan Wilson is an Australian novelist who was born and raised in Launceston, Tasmania, where he currently lives.
He holds degrees and diplomas from the universities of Tasmania, Southern Queensland and Melbourne. In 2003 he travelled to Jap ...
2015 poetry
* ''Devadatta's Poems'' by
Judith Beveridge
Judith Beveridge (born 1956) is a contemporary Australian poet, editor and academic. She is a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award.
Biography
Judith Beveridge was born in London, England, arriving in Australia with her parents in 1960. She ...
* ''Earth Hour'' by
David Malouf
David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Que ...
* ''Exhibits of the Sun'' by Stephen Edgar
* ''Poems 1957–2013'' by Geoffrey Lehmann
* ''Towards the Equator: New & Selected Poems'' by Alex Skovron
2015 non-fiction
* ''Encountering the Pacific: In the Age of Enlightenment'' by John Gascoigne
* ''John Olsen: An Artist's Life'' by Darleen Bungey
* ''Private Bill'' by
Barrie Cassidy
Barrie Cassidy (born 4 March 1950) is an Australian political journalist, as well as a radio and television host and presenter and commentator for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He was the long-running host of the Sunday morning pol ...
Michael Wilding
Michael Charles Gauntlet Wilding (23 July 1912 – 8 July 1979) was an English stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle; he also made two films with Alfred Hitchcock, '' Under Capric ...
2015 Prize for Australian History
* ''
Charles Bean
Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean (18 November 1879 – 30 August 1968), usually identified as C. E. W. Bean, was Australia's official war correspondent, subsequently its official war historian, who wrote six volumes and edited the remaining six of ...
'' by Ross Coulthart
* ''Descent into Hell'' by Peter Brune
* ''Menzies at War'' by Anne Henderson
* ''The Europeans in Australia – Volume Three: Nation'' by Alan Atkinson
* ''The Spy Catchers – The Official History of ASIO Vol 1'' by David Horner
2015 young adult fiction
* ''Are You Seeing Me?'' by Darren Groth
* ''The Astrologer's Daughter'' by Rebecca Lim
* ''The Minnow'' by Diana Sweeney
* ''The Protected'' by Claire Zorn
* ''Tigers on the Beach'' by Doug MacLeod
2015 children's fiction
* ''My Dad is a Bear'' by Nicola Connelly and illustrated by Annie White
* ''My Two Blankets'' by Irena Kobald and illustrated by
Freya Blackwood
Freya Blackwood (born 1975) is an Australian illustrator and special effects artist. She worked on special effects for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy from 2001 to 2003 and won the Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration ...
* ''One Minute's Silence'' by David Metzenthen and illustrated by Michael Camilleri
* ''Two Wolves'' by
Tristan Bancks
Tristan Bancks (21 December 1974) is an Australian children's and teen's author, with a background in filmmaking and acting. As an actor, he is known for his role as Tug O'Neale on ''Home and Away'' between 1992-1994.
Biography
Bancks trained ...
* ''Withering-by-Sea'' by Judith Rossell
2016 awards
2016 shortlist and winners
The
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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
shortlist of 30 titles was announced on 17 October 2016. The winners were announced on 9 November 2015.
2016 fiction
*''Forever Young'' by Steven Carroll
*''The Life of Houses'' by
Lisa Gorton
Lisa Gorton (born 1972) is an Australian poet, novelist, literary editor and essayist. She is the author of three award-winning poetry collections: ''Press Release'', ''Hotel Hyperion'' '','' and ''Empirical''. Her novel ''The Life of Houses,'' ...
Sarah Holland-Batt
Sarah Holland-Batt is a contemporary Australian poet, critic, and academic.
Early life and education
Born in Southport, Queensland, Sarah Holland-Batt grew up in Australia and Denver, Colorado.
She was educated at the University of Queensland ...
*''Waiting for the Past'' by Les Murray
*''The Ladder'' by
Simon West
Simon Alexander West (born 1961) is an English film director and producer. He has primarily worked in the action genre, most notably as the director of the films ''Con Air'', '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'', '' The Mechanic'', and '' The Expenda ...
2016 Prize for Australian History
*''The Story of Australia's People. The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia'' by
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Norman Blainey (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, best selling author and commentator. He is noted for having written authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including '' The Tyranny ...
*''Let My People Go: The untold story of Australia and the Soviet Jews 1959–89'' by Sam Lipski and Suzanne D Rutland
*''Red Professor: The Cold War Life of Fred Rose'' by Peter Monteath and Valerie Munt
*''
Ned Kelly
Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...
: A Lawless Life'' by Doug Morrissey
*''The War with Germany: Volume III – The Centenary History of Australia and the Great War'' by Robert Stevenson
2016 non-fiction
*''
Tom Roberts
Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism.
After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe ...
and the Art of Portraiture'' by Julie Cotter
*''On Stalin's Team: The Years of Living Dangerously in Soviet Politics'' by Sheila Fitzpatrick
*''
Thea Astley
Thea Beatrice May Astley (25 August 1925 – 17 August 2004) was an Australian novelist and short story writer. She was a prolific writer who was published for over 40 years from 1958. At the time of her death, she had won more Miles Franklin ...
: Inventing her own Weather'' by Karen Lamb''
*''Second Half First'' by Drusilla Modjeska
*''Island Home'' by
Tim Winton
Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the Miles Fr ...
2016 children's fiction
*''Adelaide's Secret World'' by Elise Hurst
*''Sister Heart'' by Sally Morgan
*''Perfect'' by Danny Parker and
Freya Blackwood
Freya Blackwood (born 1975) is an Australian illustrator and special effects artist. She worked on special effects for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy from 2001 to 2003 and won the Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration ...
*''The Greatest Gatsby: A visual book of grammar'' by Tohby Riddle
*''Mr Huff'' by Anna Walker
2016 young adult fiction
*''Becoming Kirrali Lewis'' by Jane Harrison
*''Illuminae: The Illuminae Files_01'' by Amie Kaufman and
Jay Kristoff
Jay Kristoff (born 11 November 1973) is an Australian author of fantasy and science fiction. He writes both for adult readers and young adults. He lives in Melbourne.
Biography
Kristoff was born in Perth, Australia in 1973. As a child, Kristo ...
*''A Single Stone'' by
Meg McKinlay
Meg McKinlay is a Western Australian writer. She has written a number of books for children and young adults, including ''How to Make a Bird'' and ''A Single Stone''. She has won two Prime Minister's Literary Awards and three Crystal Kite Awar ...
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 s ...
shortlist of 30 titles from more than 450 entries was announced on 17 November 2017. The winners were announced on 1 December.
2017 panels
The panels for the 2017 awards consist of:Judging panels (content changes every year)
2017 fiction
*''The Easy Way Out'' by
Steven Amsterdam
Steven Amsterdam (born in New York City on January 31, 1966) is an American writer. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he also works as a palliative care nurse.
Biography
Steven Amsterdam was born and raised in New York City. He attended Bro ...
*''The Last Days of Ava Langdon'' by Mark O'Flynn
*''Their Brilliant Careers'' by Ryan O'Neill
*''Waiting'' by
Philip Salom
Philip Salom (born 8 August 1950) is an Australian poet and novelist, whose poetry books have drawn widespread acclaim. His 14 collections of poetry and four novels are noted for their originality and expansiveness and surprising differences fro ...
Randolph Stow
Julian Randolph Stow (28 November 1935 – 29 May 2010) was an Australian-born writer, novelist and poet.
Early life
Born in Geraldton, Western Australia, Randolph Stow was the son of Mary Campbell Stow née Sewell and Cedric Ernest Stow, a ...
'' by Suzanne Falkiner
*''The Art of Time Travel: Historians and their Craft'' by Tom Griffiths
*''Our Man Elsewhere: In Search of
Alan Moorehead
Alan McCrae Moorehead, (22 July 1910 – 29 September 1983) was a war correspondent and author of popular histories, most notably two books on the nineteenth-century exploration of the Nile, ''The White Nile'' (1960) and ''The Blue Nile'' (196 ...
'' by Thornton McCamish
*''Quicksilver'' by
Nicolas Rothwell
Nicolas Rothwell is a journalist and the Northern Australia correspondent for ''The Australian'' newspaper. He is also an award-winning writer with several works of non-fiction to his name.
Background
Rothwell is the child of Czech and Australi ...
*''The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art'' by
Sebastian Smee
Sebastian Smee is an Australian-born Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic for the ''Washington Post''.
Education and career
Educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide, Smee graduated from the University of Sydney with an Honours degree in fine arts ...
George Bass
George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia.
Early years
Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George ...
'' by Josephine Bastian
*''Valian for Truth: The Life of Chester Wilmot, War Correspondent'' by Neil McDonald
*'' Evatt: A Life'' by John Murphy
*''Atomic Thunder: The Maralinga Story'' by Elizabeth Tynan
*''A Handful of Sand: The Gurindji Struggle, After the Walk-off'' by Charlie Ward
2017 young adult fiction
*''Words in Deep Blue'' by Cath Crowley
*''The Bone Sparrow'' by Zana Fraillon
*''The Stars at Oktober Bend'' by
Glenda Millard
Glenda Millard is an Australian writer of children's literature and young adult fiction.
Biography
Millard was born in Victoria, Australia. Her first work was published in 1999 by Margaret Hamilton Books, entitled ''Unplugged!''. In 2003 she ...
*''Forgetting Foster'' by Dianne Touchell
*''One Would Think Deep'' by Claire Zorn
2017 children's fiction
*''Home in the Rain'' by Bob Graham (joint winners)
*''Blue Sky, Yellow Kite'' by Janet A. Holmes, illustrator: Jonathan Bentley
*''My Brother'' by Dee Huxley, illustrator: Oliver Huxley
*''Figgy and the President'' by Tamsin Janu
*''Dragonfly Song'' by Wendy Orr (joint winners)
2018 awards
2018 shortlist and winners
The
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 Unit ...
shortlist of 30 titles from more than 500 entries was announced on 17 October 2018. The winners were announced on 5 December 2018.
2018 panels
The panels for the 2018 awards consist of:
2018 fiction
*''A Long Way from Home'' by Peter Carey
*''Border Districts'' by
Gerald Murnane
Gerald Murnane (born 25 February 1939) is an Australian writer, perhaps best known for his novel ''The Plains'' (1982). ''The New York Times'', in a big feature published on 27 March 2018, called him "the greatest living English-language writer ...
Kim Scott
Kim Scott (born 18 February 1957) is an Australian novelist of Aboriginal Australian ancestry. He is a descendant of the Noongar people of Western Australia.
Biography
Scott was born in Perth in 1957 and is the eldest of four siblings with a ...
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 Melbo ...
2018 poetry
*''Archipelago'' by Adam Aitken
*''Blindness and Rage: A Phantasmagoria'' by
Brian Castro
Brian Albert Castro (born 16 January 1950) is an Australian novelist and essayist.
Biography
Castro was born in Hong Kong and has lived in Australia since 1961. He was Chair of Creative Writing (2008-2019) at the University of Adelaide and Di ...
*''Chatelaine'' by Bonny Cassidy
*''Domestic Interior'' by
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 ...
Richard McGregor
Richard McGregor (born 1958) is an Australian journalist, writer, and author. He is currently working as a Senior Fellow at the Lowey Insititute based in Sydney, Australia. He previously was based in Japan and also other locations such as Shangh ...
*''Mischka's War: A European Odyssey of the 1940s'' by Sheila Fitzpatrick
*''No Front Line: Australia's Special Forces at War in Afghanistan'' by
Chris Masters
Christopher Todd Mordetzky (born January 8, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) under the ring name Chris Adonis as a member of Strictly Business. He is a former two-time National Ch ...
*''The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders'' by Stuart Kells
*''Unbreakable'' by Jelena Dokic and Jessica Halloran
2018 Prize for Australian History
*''Beautiful Balts: From Displaced Persons to New Australians'' by Jayne Persian
*''Hidden in Plain View: The Aboriginal People of Coastal Sydney'' by Paul Irish
*''Indigenous and Other Australians Since 1901'' by Timothy Rowse
*''
John Curtin
John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...
's War: The coming of war in the Pacific, and reinventing Australia, volume 1'' by John Edwards
*''The Enigmatic Mr Deakin'' by
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 ...
2018 young adult fiction
*''Living on Hope Street'' by Demet Divaroren
*''My Lovely Frankie'' by Judith Clarke
*''Ruben'' by Bruce Whatley
*''The Ones that Disappeared'' by Zana Fraillon
*''This Is My Song'' by Richard Yaxley
2018 children's fiction
*''Feathers'' by Phil Cummings and Phil Lesnie
*''Figgy Takes the City'' by Tamsin Janu
*''Hark, It's Me, Ruby Lee!'' by Lisa Shanahan and Binny Talib
*''Pea Pod Lullaby'' by
Glenda Millard
Glenda Millard is an Australian writer of children's literature and young adult fiction.
Biography
Millard was born in Victoria, Australia. Her first work was published in 1999 by Margaret Hamilton Books, entitled ''Unplugged!''. In 2003 she ...
and Stephen Michael King
*''Storm Whale'' by Sarah Brennan and Jane Tanner
2019 awards
2019 shortlist and winners
The
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 ...
shortlist of 30 titles from more than 500 entries was announced on 12 September 2019. On 23 October the winners were announced at a ceremony in Canberra.
2019 fiction
*''A Stolen Season'' by Rodney Hall
*''Beautiful Revolutionary'' by Laura Elizabeth Woollett
*''Saudade'' by
Suneeta Peres da Costa
Suneeta Peres da Costa is an acclaimed Australian author best known for her tragicomic novel, ''Homework'' (1999) and a novella, ''Saudade'' (2018). She began her career as a playwright and also publishes poetry, non-fiction and literary criticis ...
*''
The Death of Noah Glass
''The Death of Noah Glass'' (2018) is a novel by Australian author Gail Jones.
Plot summary
''The Death of Noah Glass'' concerns three main characters: the eponymous Noah Glass and his children Evie and Martin. Noah has been found dead face do ...
*''Blakwork'' by Alison Whittaker
*''Click Here For What We Do'' by
Pam Brown
Pamela Jane Barclay Brown (born 1948) is an Australian poet.
Career
Pam Brown was born in Seymour, Victoria. Most of her childhood was spent on military bases in Toowoomba and Brisbane. Since her early twenties, she has lived in Melbourne a ...
*''Newcastle Sonnets'' by Keri Glastonbury
*''Sun Music: New and Selected Poems'' by
Judith Beveridge
Judith Beveridge (born 1956) is a contemporary Australian poet, editor and academic. She is a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award.
Biography
Judith Beveridge was born in London, England, arriving in Australia with her parents in 1960. She ...
*''Viva the Real'' by
Jill Jones
Jill Jones (born July 11, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, who performed as a backing vocalist for Teena Marie and Prince in the 1980s.
Overview
Jones was born in Lebanon, Ohio on July 11, 1962. Her mother, a fashion model ...
2019 non-fiction
*''A Certain Light: A Memoir of Family, Loss and Hope'' by Cynthia Banham
*''Axiomatic'' by Maria Tumarkin
*''Half the Perfect World: Writers, Dreamers and Drifters on Hydra, 1955–1964'' by Paul Genoni and Tanya Dalziell
*''Rusted Off: Why Country Australia Is Fed Up'' by Gabrielle Chan
*''The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire'' by
Chloe Hooper
Chloe Melisande Hooper (born 1973) is an Australian author.
Her first novel, ''A Child’s Book of True Crime'' (2002), was short-listed for the Orange Prize for Literature and was a ''New York Times'' Notable Book. In 2005, she turned to rep ...
2019 Prize for Australian History
*''Dancing in Shadows: Histories of Nyungar Performance'' by
Anna Haebich
Anna Elizabeth Haebich, ( ; born 18 December 1949) is an Australian writer, historian and academic.
Career
Haebich is a John Curtin Distinguished Professor and Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Humanities at Curtin University. She wa ...
*''Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia'' by Billy Griffiths
*''The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History'' by Meredith Lake
*''The Land of Dreams: How Australians Won Their Freedom, 1788–1860'' by David Kemp
*''You Daughters of Freedom: The Australians Who Won the Vote and Inspired the World'' by Clare Wright
2019 young adult fiction
*''Between Us'' by Clare Atkins
*''Cicada'' by
Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan (born 1973) is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for '' The Lost Thing'', a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Other books he has written and illustrated inc ...
*''Lenny's Book of Everything'' by Karen Foxlee
*''The Art of Taxidermy'' by Sharon Kernot
*''The Things That Will Not Stand'' by Michael Gerard Bauer
2019 children's fiction
*''His Name Was Walter'' by Emily Rodda
*''Sonam and the Silence'' by Eddie Ayres, illustrated by Ronak Taher
*''The Feather'' by
Margaret Wild
Margaret Wild (born 1948) is an Australian children's writer. She has written more than 40 books for children. Her work has been published around the world and has won several awards. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Childre ...
, illustrated by
Freya Blackwood
Freya Blackwood (born 1975) is an Australian illustrator and special effects artist. She worked on special effects for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy from 2001 to 2003 and won the Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration ...
*''The Incredible Freedom Machines'' by Kirli Saunders, illustrated by Matt Ottley
*''Waiting for Chicken Smith'' by David Mackintosh
2020 awards
The 2020 awards were announced on 22 January 2020; entries had to be submitted by 28 February 2020.
2020 panels
The panels for the 2020 awards consist of:
2020 shortlist and winners
The
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
shortlist of 30 titles from 562 entries received was announced on 13 November 2020. The winners were announced on 10 December.
2020 fiction
* ''The Death of Jesus'' by
J. M. Coetzee
John Maxwell Coetzee OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in ...
The Yield
''The Yield'' is a 2019 novel by Tara June Winch. She won the 2020 Miles Franklin Award for this book. The book also won the 2020 Voss Literary Prize and the 2020 Prime Minister's Literary Award for fiction.
The novel follows the story of a you ...
'' by
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 ...
* ''Heide'' by П. O.
* ''The Future Keepers'' by Nandi Chinna
* ''Empirical'' by
Lisa Gorton
Lisa Gorton (born 1972) is an Australian poet, novelist, literary editor and essayist. She is the author of three award-winning poetry collections: ''Press Release'', ''Hotel Hyperion'' '','' and ''Empirical''. Her novel ''The Life of Houses,'' ...
* ''Birth Plan'' by L. K. Holt
* ''The Lost Arabs'' by Omar Sakr
2020 non-fiction
* ''The Enchantment of the Long-haired Rat'' by Tim Bonyhady
* ''Songspirals: Sharing Women's Wisdom of Country through Songlines'' by Gay'Wu Group of Women
* ''See What You Made Me Do'' by
Jess Hill
Jesse Terrill Hill (January 20, 1907 – August 31, 1993) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator who was best known for his tenure as a coach and athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC). His c ...
* ''Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia'' by Christina Thompson
* ''Hearing Maud: A Journey for a Voice'' by Jessica White (about
Rosa Campbell Praed
Rosa Campbell Praed (; 26 March 1851 – 10 April 1935), often credited as Mrs. Campbell Praed (and also known as ''Rosa Caroline Praed''), was an Australian novelist in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Her large bibliography covered multiple ...
's daughter)
2020 Australian history
* ''From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting'' by
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 ...
* ''Progressive New World: How Settler Colonialism and Transpacific Exchange Shaped American Reform'' by Marilyn Lake
* ''Sludge: Disaster on Victoria's Goldfields'' by Susan Lawrence and Peter Davies
* ''The Oarsmen: The Remarkable Story of the Men Who Rowed from the Great War to Peace'' by Scott Patterson
* ''Meeting the Waylo: Aboriginal Encounters in the Archipelago'' by Tiffany Shellam
2020 young adult fiction
* ''The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling'' by Wai Chim
* ''How It Feels to Float'' by Helena Fox
* ''The Honeyman and the Hunter'' by Neil Grant
* ''When the Ground Is Hard'' by Malla Nunn
* ''This Is How We Change the Ending'' by Vikki Wakefield
2020 children's fiction
* ''Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back'' by Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell (illustrator)
* ''One Careless Night'' by Christina Booth
* ''Winter of the White Bear'' by Martin Ed Chatterton
* ''Catch a Falling Star'' by
Meg McKinlay
Meg McKinlay is a Western Australian writer. She has written a number of books for children and young adults, including ''How to Make a Bird'' and ''A Single Stone''. She has won two Prime Minister's Literary Awards and three Crystal Kite Awar ...
* ''Cooee Mittigar: A Song on
Darug
The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...
Songlines'' by Jasmine Seymour and Leanne Mulgo Watson (illustrator)
2021 awards
2021 panels
The panels for the 2021 awards consist of:
2021 shortlist and winners
The
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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
shortlist of titles from entries received was announced on 22 October 2021. The winners were announced on 14 December 2021.
2021 fiction
* ''A Treacherous Country'' by K. M. Kruimink
* ''In the Time of Foxes'' by Jo Lennan
* ''Lucky's'' by Andrew Pippos
* ''The Bass Rock'' by
Evie Wyld
Evelyn Rose Strange "Evie" Wyld (born 16 June 1980) is an Anglo-Australian author. Her first novel, ''After the Fire, A Still Small Voice'', won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 2009, and her second novel, '' All the Birds, Singing'', won the ...
* ''The Labyrinth'' by Amanda Lohrey
2021 poetry
* ''Change Machine'' by Jaya Savige
* ''Homer Street'' by
Laurie Duggan
Laurence James Duggan (born 1949), known as Laurie Duggan, is an Australian poet, editor, and translator.
Life
Laurie Duggan was born in Melbourne and attended Monash University, where his friends included the poets Alan Wearne and John A. Sc ...
* ''Nothing to Declare'' by Mags Webster
* ''Shorter Lives'' by John A. Scott
* ''The Strangest Place: New and selected poems'' by Stephen Edgar
2021 non-fiction
* ''Flight Lines: Across the globe on a journey with the astonishing ultramarathon birds'' by Andrew Darby
* ''The Altar Boys'' by Suzanne Smith
* ''The Details: On love, death and reading'' by Tegan Bennett Daylight
* ''The Stranger Artist: Life at the edge of Kimberley painting'' by Quentin Sprague
* ''Truganini: Journey through the apocalypse'' by Cassandra Pybus
2021 Australian history
* ''Ceremony Men: Making ethnography and the return of the Strehlow collection'' by Jason M. Gibson
* ''Pathfinders: A history of Aboriginal trackers in NSW'' by Michael Bennett
* ''People of the River: Lost worlds of early Australia'' by Grace Karskens
* ''Representing Australian Aboriginal Music and Dance 1930-1970'' by Amanda Harris
* ''The Convict Valley: The bloody struggle on Australia's early frontier'' by Mark Dunn
2021 young adult fiction
* ''Loner'' by Georgina Young
* ''Metal Fish, Falling Snow'' by Cath Moore
* ''The End of the World Is Bigger than Love'' by
Davina Bell
Davina Bell is an Australian literary editor and children's writer. Her 2020 book, ''The End of the World Is Bigger than Love'', won a New South Wales Premier's Literary Award in 2021.
Early life and education
Bell was born in Perth, Western ...
* ''The F Team'' by Rawah Arja
* ''When Rain Turns to Snow'' by Jane Godwin
2021 children's literature
* ''Fly on the Wall'' by Remy Lai (jointly awarded)
* ''How to Make a Bird'' by
Meg McKinlay
Meg McKinlay is a Western Australian writer. She has written a number of books for children and young adults, including ''How to Make a Bird'' and ''A Single Stone''. She has won two Prime Minister's Literary Awards and three Crystal Kite Awar ...
, illustrated by Matt Ottley (jointly awarded)
* ''The January Stars'' by Kate Constable
* ''The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst'' by
Jaclyn Moriarty
Jaclyn Moriarty (born 1968 in Perth) is an Australian novelist, most known for her young adult literature. She is a recipient of the Davitt Award and the Aurealis Award for best children's fiction.
Biography
Moriarty was raised in the north-west ...
, illustrated by Kelly Canby
* ''The Year the Maps Changed'' by Danielle Binks
2022 awards
2022 shortlist and winners
The
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
shortlist of titles from entries received was announced on 7 November 2022, with the winners announced on 13 December 2022.
2022 fiction
* ''Dark as Last Night'' by Tony Birch
* ''The Hands of Pianists'' by Stephen Downes
* ''Devotion'' by
Hannah Kent
Hannah Kent (born 1985) is an Australian writer, known for two novels – ''Burial Rites'' (2013) and '' The Good People'' (2016). Her third novel, ''Devotion'', was published in 2021.
Early life and education
Kent was born in 1985 grew up in ...
* ''Night Blue'' by Angela O'Keeffe
* ''Red Heaven'' by
Nicolas Rothwell
Nicolas Rothwell is a journalist and the Northern Australia correspondent for ''The Australian'' newspaper. He is also an award-winning writer with several works of non-fiction to his name.
Background
Rothwell is the child of Czech and Australi ...
2022 poetry
* ''Fifteeners'' by
Jordie Albiston
Jordie Albiston (30 September 1961 – 28 February 2022) was an Australian poet.
Early life
Jordie Albiston grew up in Melbourne, the second of four children. She studied music at the Victorian College of the Arts before completing a doct ...
* ''Dancing with Stephen Hawking'' by John Foulcher
* ''Human Looking'' by Andy Jackson
* ''Fish Work'' by Caitlin Maling
* ''Homecoming'' by Elfie Shiosaki
2022 non-fiction
* ''Title Fight: How the Yindjibarndi battled and defeated a mining giant'' by Paul Cleary
* ''The Case That Stopped a Nation: The Archibald Prize controversy of 1944'' by Peter Edwell
* ''Puff Piece'' by
John Safran
, citizenship =
, education =
, occupation = DocumentarianJournalist Radio presenterAuthor
, years_active = 1997 – present
, known_for = ''John Safran's Music Jamboree'' ''John Safran vs God'' '' Rac ...
* ''Another Day in the Colony'' by
Chelsea Watego
Chelsea Joanne Watego (formerly Bond, born 1978/1979) is an Aboriginal Australian academic and writer. She is a Mununjali Yugambeh and South Sea Islander woman and is currently Professor of Indigenous Health at Queensland University of Techn ...
* ''Rogue Forces: An explosive insiders' account of Australian SAS war crimes in Afghanistan'' by Mark Willacy
2022 Australian history
* ''White Russians, Red Peril: A Cold War history of migration to Australia'' by Sheila Fitzpatrick
* ''Semut: The untold story of a secret Australian operation in WWII Borneo'' by Christine Helliwell
* ''Return to Uluru'' by Mark McKenna
* ''Harlem Nights: The secret history of Australia's Jazz Age'' by Deirdre O'Connell
* '' Farmers or Hunter-Gatherers? The Dark Emu Debate'' by Peter Sutton and Keryn Walshe
2022 Young adult
* ''Still Alive: Notes from Australia's immigration detention system'' by Safdar Ahmed
* ''100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze'' by Clayton Zame Comber
* ''The Gaps'' by Leanne Hall
* ''Tiger Daughter'' by Rebecca Lim
* ''Tell Me Why (For Young Adults)'' by
Archie Roach
Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung elder who campaigned for the rights of Abori ...
2022 Children's
* ''The Boy and the Elephant'' by
Freya Blackwood
Freya Blackwood (born 1975) is an Australian illustrator and special effects artist. She worked on special effects for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy from 2001 to 2003 and won the Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration ...
* ''Mina and the Whole Wide World'' by Sherryl Clark, illustrated by Briony Stewart
* ''Common Wealth'' by Gregg Dreise
* ''Dragon Skin'' by Karen Foxlee
* ''Exit Through the Gift Shop'' by Maryam Master, illustrated by Astred Hicks