South Australian Literary Awards Explained

The South Australian Literary Awards, until 2024 known as the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, comprise a group of biennially-granted literary awards established in 1986 by the Government of South Australia. Formerly announced during Adelaide Writers' Week in March, as part of the Adelaide Festival, from 2024 the awards are announced in a dedicated ceremony in October. The awards include national as well as state-based prizes, and offer three fellowships for South Australian writers. Several categories have been added to the original four.

History

The Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature were created by the Government of South Australia in 1986 and awarded during Writers' Week as part of the Adelaide Festival.[1]

In 2020, the State Library of South Australia (SLSA) took over administration of the awards from Arts South Australia, and library director Geoff Strempel felt that the awards being presented in the late afternoon right at the end of a busy Writers' Week meant that they did not get the attention they deserved, especially compared with its interstate equivalents.[2] [3]

From 2024, the awards are renamed the South Australian Literary Awards[4] (a name in line with its interstate equivalents),and the awards ceremony takes place in the Mortlock Chamber of the SLSA towards the end of the year, away from the festival season.[2] The first of the rebranded awards takes place in October 2024. The shortlist was announced on 9 August 2024.[5]

Description

The Premier's Award is the richest prize, worth, and awarded for the best overall published work which has already won an award in one of the other categories.[6] [5] There is a total prize pool of, which is distributed 11 categories, including the Premier's Award. There are six national and five South Australian categories.[2]

Other national awards, worth each as of 2024, are the Fiction Award, Children's Literature Award, Young Adult Fiction Award, John Bray Poetry Award, and the Non-Fiction Award. South Australian awards and fellowships are the Jill Blewett Playwright's Award, the Arts South Australia/Wakefield Press Unpublished Manuscript Award, the Barbara Hanrahan Fellowship, the Max Fatchen Fellowship (in honour of Adelaide author and journalist Max Fatchen), and the Tangkanungku Pintyanthi Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship.[5] [1] Applications for each year's awards are open until mid-December of the preceding year.[2]

The awards are jointly funded by the SA government and the Libraries Board of South Australia.[2]

National awards

Premier's Award

Winners:[1]

Fiction Award

Winners:[1]

Children's Literature Award

Winners:[1]

Young Adult Fiction Award

(Offered 2012–) Winners:[1]

John Bray Poetry Award

Honours John Jefferson Bray (1912–1995), Chief Justice of South Australia, academic and poet for his distinguished services to Australian poetry.[13] Winners:[1]

Non-Fiction Award

Winners:[1]

South Australian awards & fellowships

Jill Blewett Playwright's Award

(Offered 1992−) Winners:[1]

Arts SA/Wakefield Press Unpublished Manuscript Award

(Offered 1998–)[1]

Barbara Hanrahan Fellowship

(Offered 1994–) Winners:[1]

Max Fatchen (formerly Carclew) Fellowship

(Carclew Fellowship 1988–2012;[14] renamed Max Fatchen Fellowship from 2014, in honour of children's writer Max Fatchen, who died in 2012.[15] [6])Winners:[1]

Tangkanungku Pintyanthi Fellowship

(Offered 2014– ; full name Tangkanungku Pintyanthi Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship) Winners:[1]

Historic awards

Innovation award

(Offered 2004–2010)
Winners:[1]

The Mayne Award for Multimedia

Formerly the Faulding Award for Multimedia(offered 1998 to 2004).
Winners:[1]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: State Library of South Australia. Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners. 18 April 2024.
  2. Web site: Suzie . Keen . SA's top literary awards to be uncoupled from Writers Week . . 6 November 2023 . 15 September 2024.
  3. Web site: New look and feel for state’s highest literary awards . WE ARE.SA . 4 December 2023 . 15 September 2024.
  4. Web site: 2024 South Australian Literary Awards . State Library of South Australia . 6 November 2023.
  5. Web site: 2024 South Australian Literary Awards . Stories from the stacks . 9 August 2024 . 15 September 2024.
  6. Web site: Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature: 2020 Guidelines.
  7. Web site: Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature winners announced. 2 March 2020. Books+Publishing. en-AU. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200409193645/https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2020/03/02/146672/adelaide-festival-awards-for-literature-winners-announced-2/ . 9 April 2020 . 2020-03-05.
  8. Web site: Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature . State Library of South Australia . 27 April 2020.
  9. Web site: 2022-03-05 . Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature showcase excellence . 2022-03-08 . ArtsHub Australia . en-AU.
  10. Web site: 2024 South Australian Literary Awards . . 17 October 2024.
  11. Web site: Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature 2016 winners announced. Books and Publishing. 29 February 2016. 29 July 2019 .
  12. Web site: 2022-03-08 . Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature winners announced . 2022-03-20 . Books+Publishing . en-AU.
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20110821151302/http://www.adelaidefestivalawardsforliterature.com.au/awards/national/john-bray-poetry-award/ Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature: John Bray poetry award
  14. Not to be confused with fellowships now awarded by CarclewWeb site: Carclew. Fellowships. 29 July 2019.
  15. Web site: 2018 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature. Issuu. Arts South Australia. 21 March 2018 . 32. 29 July 2019.
  16. Web site: 2012 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature. Adelaide Festival Archives. Writers Week. 29 July 2019.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "South Australian Literary Awards".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.