The Western Australian Premier's Book Awards is an annual book award provided by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...

, and managed by the

State Library of Western Australia The State Library of Western Australia is a research, education, reference and public lending library located in the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, Western Australia. It is a portfolio agency of the Western Australia Department of Local Gover ...

History and format

Annual literary awards were inaugurated by the Western Australian Government in 1982 to honour and celebrate the literary achievements of Western Australian writers. Until 1990 the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards were called the WA Week Literary Awards. The title of the award refers to the year of publication, rather than the year in which the awards were announced e.g.the 2011 awards for works published that year were announced in 2012. This changed to the award year in 2023. The categories included poetry, non-fiction, fiction, Western Australian history, children's book, YA fiction, scripts and digital narrative. There was also a Premier's Prize, which was awarded to an overall winner. The Barnett government downgraded the awards from an annual event to a biennial one much to the disappointment of the WA arts sector. The

McGowan McGowan is an Irish and Scottish surname. It is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Mac Gabhann'' and Scottish ''Mac Gobhann'', both of which mean 'son of (the) smith'. Belonging to the Uí Echach Cobo, located in modern-day western County Down ...

government reinstated the annual award format in 2018. There were four categories – the Western Australian Writer's Fellowship (valued at $60,000), the Premier's Prize for Writing for Children ($15,000), the Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer ($15,000) and the Daisy Utemorrah Award for Indigenous Authors ($15,000 and publishing contract with Magabala Books). A fifth award was added in 2023, the Premier's Prize for Book of the Year ($15,000). There have been calls for the awards to be restored to their previous levels as there are currently no categories for established poets and non-fiction writers.

Honorees

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

References

External links

* {{Portal, Children and Young Adult Literature __FORCETOC__ Australian literary awards Australian non-fiction book awards Western Australian literature Australian history awards