The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry, and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction.[1]
, the Awards are presented by the NSW Government and administered by the State Library of New South Wales in association with Create NSW, with support of Multicultural NSW and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Total prize money in 2019 was up to A$305,000, with eligibility limited to writers, translators and illustrators with Australian citizenship or permanent resident status.[2]
The NSW Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities. If governments treat writers and artists with respect and understanding, the community will be more likely to do the same."[3] They were the first set of premier's awards offered in Australia.[1]
The awards were not presented in 1998 as the eligibility dates were amended.[4]
The winners of most of the prizes and awards are decided by a judging panel, with no input from Create NSW (former Arts NSW) or the New South Wales Government. The names of each year's judges are not announced until the final winners are decided. The judging has been the subject of controversy in the past, when in 2010, the panel decided not to bestow the Play Award on any of the applicants.[5]
In November 2011, the NSW Government announced a review of the Premier's Literary Awards for 2012. An independent panel, chaired by journalist Gerard Henderson, reviewed both the Literary and the Premier's History Awards, focussed on the governance, selection criteria and judging processes.[6] Following the review, the Awards are managed by the State Library of NSW, in association with Create NSW.[7]
The following prizes and awards are currently given in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.
The Christina Stead Prize is awarded for a work of fiction that may be either a novel or a collection of stories. The recipient receives a A$40,000 prize . It is named in honour of Christina Stead, an Australian novelist and short-story writer.[8] The first recipient was David Malouf, who was awarded the Prize for his novella An Imaginary Life in 1979. In 2019 Michelle de Kretser won with The Life to Come and equalled Peter Carey's record of three wins.[9]
The Douglas Stewart Prize is awarded for a prose work that is not fiction. The recipient receives a A$40,000 prize . It is named in honour of Douglas Stewart, a noted Australian literary editor.[50] The first recipient was Manning Clark, who was awarded the Prize for the fourth volume in his series A History of Australia in 1979. Drusilla Modjeska, with three wins, has won the Prize more than any other individual.[9] In 2019 Billy Griffiths and Sarah Krasnostein were joint winners.[42]
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | A History of Australia Volume IV | Manning Clark | Melbourne University Press | ||
| 1980 | Barwick | David Marr | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 1981 | A Fortunate Life | A.B. Facey | Fremantle Arts Centre Press | ||
| 1982 | Rebels and Precursors | Richard Haese | Allen Lane | ||
| 1983 | Robert J. Hawke | Blanche d'Alpuget | Schwartz Books | ||
| 1984 | The Archibald Paradox | Sylvia Lawson | Allen Lane | ||
| 1985 | The Moon Man | Elsie Webster | Melbourne University Press | ||
| 1986 | A Paper Prince | George Munster | Viking/Penguin Books Australia | ||
| The Kurnai of Gippsland, Volume One | Phillip Pepper with Tess De Araugo | Hyland House Publishing | |||
| 1987 | The Irish In Australia | Patrick O'Farrell | University of New South Wales Press | ||
| 1988 | Louisa | Brian Matthews | McPhee Gribble | ||
| 1989 | His Mother's Country | Maslyn Williams | Melbourne University Press | ||
| 1990 | The Snowy | Siobhan McHugh | William Heinemann Australia | ||
| 1991 | Sitting In | Barry Hill | William Heinemann Australia | ||
| Poppy | Drusilla Modjeska | McPhee Gribble | |||
| 1992 | Patrick White | David Marr | Random Century Australia | ||
| 1993 | Robert Menzies Forgotten People | Judith Brett | Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| Put Your Whole Self In | Meme McDonald | Penguin Books Australia | |||
| 1994 | Australia's Spies and Their Secrets | David McKnight | Allen & Unwin | ||
| The Scandalous Penton | Patrick Buckridge | University of Queensland Press | |||
| 1995 | The Orchard | Drusilla Modjeska | Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| 1996 | Hunters and Collectors: The Antiquarian Imagination in Australia | Tom Griffiths | Cambridge University Press | ||
| 1997 | The Europeans in Australia: A History, Volume One | Alan Atkinson | Oxford University Press | ||
| 1999 | H M Bark Endeavour | Ray Parkin | Miegunyah Press at Melbourne University Press | ||
| 2000 | Stravinsky's Lunch | Drusilla Modjeska | Picador/Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| 2001 | Craft for a Dry Lake | Kim Mahood | Transworld/ Random House Australia | ||
| 2002 | The Poison Principle | Gail Bell | Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| 2003 | Looking for Blackfellas' Point: An Australian History of Place | Mark McKenna | University of New South Wales Press | ||
| 2004 | Dancing with Strangers | Inga Clendinnen | Text Publishing | ||
| 2005 | The Idea of Home: autobiographical essays | John Hughes | Giramondo Publishing | ||
| 2006 | East of Time | Jacob G. Rosenberg | Brandl & Schlesinger | ||
| 2007 | Things I Didn't Know: a Memoir | Robert Hughes | Random House Australia | ||
| 2008 | Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica | Tom Griffiths | University of New South Wales Press | ||
| 2009 | Chloe Hooper | Penguin Australia | |||
| 2010 | Kill Khalid: Mossad's failed hit ... and the rise of Hamas | Paul McGeough | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2011 | Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs | Malcolm Fraser and Margaret Simons | Melbourne University Publishing | ||
| 2012 | An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark | Mark McKenna | Miegunyah, MUP | [51] | |
| 2013 | The Office: A Hard Working History | Gideon Haigh | Miegunyah | ||
| 2014 | Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir | Kristina Olsson | University of Queensland Press | ||
| Rendezvous with Destiny | Michael Fullilove | Penguin Group (Australia) | |||
| 2015 | The Bush | Don Watson | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2016 | Reckoning: A Memoir | Magda Szubanski | Text Publishing | [52] | |
| 2017 | Our Man Elsewhere: In Search of Alan Moorehead | Thornton McCamish | Black Inc | [53] | |
| 2018 | Passchendaele: Requiem for Doomed Youth | Paul Ham | William Heinemann Australia | ||
| 2019 | Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia (joint winner) | Billy Griffiths | Black Inc. | ||
| The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay and Disaster (joint winner) | Sarah Krasnostein | Text Publishing | |||
| 2020 | Tiberius with a Telephone: The Life and Stories of William McMahon | Patrick Mullins | Scribe Publications | ||
| 2021 | The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empire | Kate Fullagar | Yale University Press | ||
| 2022 | The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek | Kate Holden | Black Inc. | [54] | |
| 2023 | We Come With This Place | Debra Dank | Echo Publishing | ||
| 2024 | Ghosts of the Orphanage | Christine Kenneally | Hachette Australia |
See main article: Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry. The Kenneth Slessor Prize is awarded for a book of poetry, whether collected poems or a single poem of some length, and was first awarded in 1980. The recipient receives a A$30,000 prize . It is named in honour of Kenneth Slessor, a noted Australian poet and journalist.[55] The first recipient was David Campbell, who won the Prize posthumously. In 2011, NSW poet Jennifer Maiden became the only individual to win the award three times.[9]
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | The Man in the Honeysuckle | David Campbell | Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1981 | Astral Sea | Alan Gould | Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1982 | Kaddish and Other Poems | Fay Zwicky | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 1983 | Tide Country | Vivian Smith | Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1984 | Les A. Murray | Angus & Robertson | |||
| 1985 | Your Shadow | Kevin Hart | Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1986 | Selected Poems 1963-83 | Robert Gray | Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1987 | Blood and Bone | Philip Hodgins | Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1988 | The Domesticity of Giraffes | Judith Beveridge | Black Lightning Press | ||
| 1989 | Under Berlin | John Tranter | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 1990 | The Clean Dark | Robert Adamson | Paper Bark Press | ||
| 1991 | The Winter Baby | Jennifer Maiden | Collins Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1992 | Selected Poems | Elizabeth Riddell | Collins Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1993 | Translations from the Natural World | Les A. Murray | Isabella Press | ||
| 1994 | Ghosting William Buckley | Barry Hill | William Heinemann Australia | ||
| 1995 | Coming Home From the World | Peter Boyle | Five Islands Press | ||
| 1996 | Weeping for Lost Babylon | Eric Beach | HarperCollins Publishers | ||
| Selected Poems | J. S. Harry | Penguin Books Australia | |||
| 1997 | The Viewfinder | Anthony Lawrence | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 1999 | Race Against Time | Lee Cataldi | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2000 | Mines | Jennifer Maiden | Paper Bark Press / Australian Humanities Research Foundation | ||
| 2001 | Africa | Ken Taylor | Five Islands Press | ||
| 2002 | The Lovemakers | Alan Wearne | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2003 | Screens Jets Heaven: New and Selected Poems | Jill Jones | Salt Publishing | ||
| 2004 | Dear Deliria: New & Selected Poems | Pam Brown | Salt Publishing | ||
| 2005 | Smoke Encrypted Whispers | Samuel Wagan Watson | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2006 | Latecomers | Jaya Savige | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2007 | Urban Myths:210 Poems | John Tranter | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2008 | Two Kinds of Silence | Kathryn Lomer | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2009 | Man Wolf Man | L. K. Holt | John Leonard Press | ||
| 2010 | the sonnet according to ‘m’ | Jordie Albiston | John Leonard Press | ||
| 2011 | Pirate Rain | Jennifer Maiden | Giramondo Publishing | ||
| 2012 | New and Selected Poems | Gig Ryan | Giramondo Publishing | ||
| 2013 | Ruby Moonlight | Ali Cobby Eckermann | Magabala Books | ||
| 2014 | Novelties | Fiona Hile | Hunter | ||
| 2015 | Earth Hour | David Malouf | University of Queensland Press | [56] | |
| 2016 | brush | Joanne Burns | Giramondo Poets | [57] | |
| 2017 | Ghostspeaking | Peter Boyle | Vagabond Press | ||
| 2018 | Argosy | Bella Li | Vagabond Press | ||
| 2019 | Interval | Judith Bishop | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2020 | Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness | Peter Boyle | Vagabond Press | ||
| 2021 | Throat | Ellen van Neerven | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2022 | accelerations & inertias | Dan Disney | Vagabond Press | [58] | |
| 2023 | The Singer and Other Poems | Kim Cheng Boey | Cordite Books | ||
| 2024 | Riverbed Sky Songs | Tais Rose Wae | Vagabond Press |
The Ethel Turner Prize is awarded for work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for young people of secondary school level. The recipient receives a A$30,000 prize . It is named in honour of Ethel Turner, author of the children's classic, Seven Little Australians.[59]
The Children's Literature section of the Premier's Literary Awards began as a single award in 1979, but was redefined in 1999 to create the Patricia Wrightson Prize (for writing for a primary school audience) and the Ethel Turner Prize (for a secondary school audience). The Ethel Turner Award was also given to all previous winners in the Children's Literature section.[60] The Prize was first won, jointly, by Patricia Wrightson and Jenny Wagner in 1979. Australian author Ursula Dubosarsky and writer Jaclyn Moriarty have each won the prize three times.[9]
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat | Jenny Wagner | Kestrel Books | ||
| The Dark Bright Water | Patricia Wrightson (Special Children's book) | Atheneum Books, New York | |||
| 1980 | Mr Archimedes' Bath | Pamela Allen | William Collins | ||
| Land of the Rainbow Snake | Catherine Berndt (Special Children's book) | William Collins | |||
| 1981 | When the Wind Changed | Ruth Park and Deborah Niland | William Collins | ||
| Seventh Pebble | Eleanor Spence | Oxford University Press | |||
| 1982 | Whistle Up the Chimney | Nan Hunt and Craig Smith | William Collins | [61] | |
| 1983 | Who Sank the Boat? | Pamela Allen | Nelson | [62] | |
| Five Times Dizzy | Nadia Wheatley (Special children's book) | Oxford University Press | |||
| 1984 | Possum Magic | Mem Fox and Julie Vivas | Omnibus Books | ||
| 1985 | The House That was Eureka | Nadia Wheatley | Viking/Kestrel | ||
| 1986 | The True Story of Spit MacPhee | James Aldridge | Viking/Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 1987 | A Rabbit Named Harris | Nan Hunt and Betina Ogden | William Collins | ||
| 1988 | Answers to Brut | Gillian Rubinstein | Omnibus Books | ||
| 1989 | You Take the High Road | Mary Pershall | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 1990 | The Blue Chameleon | Katherine Scholes | Hill of Content Publishing | ||
| 1991 | Strange Objects | Gary Crew | William Heinemann Australia | ||
| 1992 | All in the Blue Unclouded Weather | Robin Klein | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 1993 | Tjarany Roughtail | Gracie Greene, Lucille Gill and Joe Tramacchi | Magabala Books | ||
| 1994 | The White Guinea Pig | Ursula Dubosarsky | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 1995 | Mr Enigmatic | Jenny Pausacker | Reed for Kids | ||
| 1996 | Johnny Hart's Heroes | David Metzenthen | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 1997 | The Two Bullies | Junko Morimoto | Random House Australia | ||
| 1998 | No award | ||||
| 1999 | The Divine Wind | Garry Disher | Hodder Headline Australia | ||
| 2000 | The Binna-Binna Man | Meme McDonald and Boori Monty Pryor | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2001 | Feeling Sorry for Celia | Jaclyn Moriarty | Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| 2002 | Soldier Boy: The True Story of Jim Martin, the Youngest Anzac | Anthony Hill | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2003 | The Messenger | Markus Zusak | Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| 2004 | Boys of Blood and Bone | David Metzenthen | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2005 | By the River | Steven Herrick | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2006 | Theodora's Gift | Ursula Dubosarsky | Penguin Group Australia | ||
| 2007 | The Red Shoe | Ursula Dubosarsky | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2008 | Town | James Roy | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2009 | A Brief History of Montmaray | Michelle Cooper | Random House Australia | ||
| 2010 | When the Hipchicks Went to War | Pamela Rushby | Hachette Australia | ||
| 2011 | Graffiti Moon | Cath Crowley | Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| 2012 | Only Ever Always | Penni Russon | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2013 | A Corner of White | Jaclyn Moriarty | Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| 2014 | Zac and Mia | AJ Betts | Text Press | ||
| 2015 | The Cracks in the Kingdom | Jaclyn Moriarty | Pan Macmillan Australia | ||
| 2016 | Laurinda | Alice Pung | Black Inc. | [63] | |
| 2017 | One Thousand Hills | James Roy and Noël Zihabamwe | Omnibus Books, Scholastic Australia | ||
| 2018 | The Ones That Disappeared | Zana Fraillon | Lothian | ||
| 2019 | Amelia Westlake | Erin Gough | Hardie Grant Egmont | ||
| 2020 | Lenny's Book of Everything | Karen Foxlee | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2021 | The End of the World Is Bigger than Love | Davina Bell | Text Publishing | ||
| 2022 | The Gaps | Leanne Hall | Text Publishing | [64] | |
| 2023 | The Upwelling | Lystra Rose | Hachette | ||
| 2024 | The Quiet and the Loud | Helena Fox | Pan Macmillan Australia |
The Patricia Wrightson Prize is awarded for work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for children up to secondary school level.[65] The recipient receives a A$30,000 prize .
The Children's Literature section of the Premier's Literary Awards began as a single award in 1979, but was redefined in 1999 to create the Patricia Wrightson Prize (for writing for a primary school audience) and the Ethel Turner Prize (for a secondary school audience).[60] The Patricia Wrightson Prize was created in honour of children's author Patricia Wrightson, who won the first Ethel Turner Prize in 1979.[66] The first recipient was Odo Hirsch, for his debut children's book, Antonio S and the Mystery of Theodore Guzman. The most recent recipient is Leanne Hall, author of Iris and the Tiger. Kierin Meehan is the only author who has won the Prize more than once.[9]
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Antonio S and the Mystery of Theodore Guzman | Odo Hirsch | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2000 | The Spangled Drongo | Steven Herrick | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2001 | Fox | Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks (illus.) | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2002 | The Red Tree | Shaun Tan | Lothian Books | ||
| 2003 | Where in the World | Simon French | Little Hare Books | ||
| 2004 | Night Singing | Kierin Meehan | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2005 | Farm Kid | Sherryl Clark | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2006 | In the Monkey Forest | Kierin Meehan | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2007 | Home | Narelle Oliver | Omnibus Books | ||
| 2008 | The Peasant Prince | Li Cunxin and Anne Spudvilas (illus.) | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2009 | The Word Spy | Ursula Dubosarsky and Tohby Riddle | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2010 | Krakatoa Lighthouse | Allan Baillie | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2011 | My Australian Story: The Hunt for Ned Kelly | Sophie Masson | Scholastic Australia | ||
| 2012 | Crow Country | Kate Constable | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2013 | The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon | Aaron Blabey | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2014 | The Girl Who Brought Mischief | Katrina Nannestad | HarperCollins Publishers | ||
| 2015 | Crossing | Catherine Norton | Omnibus/Scholastic Australia | ||
| Figgy in the World | Tamsin Janu | Omnibus/Scholastic Australia | |||
| 2016 | Teacup | Rebecca Young & Matt Ottley | Scholastic Australia | [67] | |
| 2017 | Iris and the Tiger | Leanne Hall | Text Publishing | ||
| 2018 | How to Bee | Bren MacDibble | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2019 | Leave Taking | Lorraine Marwood | University of Queensland Press | ||
| Dingo | Claire Saxby and Tannya Harricks | Walker Books | |||
| 2020 | Ella and the Ocean | Lian Tanner & Jonathan Bentley | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2021 | The Grandest Bookshop in the World | Amelia Mellor | Affirm Press | ||
| 2022 | My Brother Ben | Peter Carnavas | University of Queensland Press | [68] | |
| 2023 | The First Scientists | Corey Tutt and Blak Douglas | Hardie Grant | ||
| 2024 | Paradise Sands: A Story of Enchantment | Levi Pinfold | Walker Books |
This Award was first established in 1980, when it was known as the Ethnic Affairs Commission Award.[69] [70] Later known as the Community Relations Commission Award, and from 2012 referred to as the Community Relations Commission for Multicultural NSW Award, or from 2014 just Multicultural NSW Award, the prize money is worth $20,000 .[71]
It is offered for: "a book of fiction or non-fiction, memoir or history; a play, musical drama or comedy, theatrical monologue or other theatrical performance; a book of collected poems or a single poem of substantial length published in book form; the screenplay of a feature or documentary film or episode of a television program...; or the script of a radio play or documentary which is deemed by the judges to have made a significant contribution to Australian literature, poetry, theatre, film, radio or television and which also considers any aspect of the Australian migration experience; and/or aspects of cultural diversity and multiculturalism in Australian society."[72]
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Australia through Italian Eyes | Stephanie Lindsay Thompson | Oxford University Press | ||
| 1981 | For the Patriarch | Angelo Loukakis | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 1982 | The Long Farewell | Don Charlwood | Allen Lane | ||
| 1983 | Faith of Our Fathers | Spiro Zavos | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 1984 | A Universe of Clowns | Phoenix Publications | |||
| 1985 | Oh Lucky Country | Rosa Cappiello | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 1986 | No Snow In December | Maria Lewitt | Heinemann Publishers | ||
| 1987 | Dreamtime Nightmares | Bill Rosser | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 1991 | Jewels and Ashes | Arnold Zable | Scribe Publications | ||
| 1992 | Inside Outside | Andrew Riemer | HarperCollins Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1993 | The Crocodile Fury | Beth Yahp | HarperCollins Angus & Robertson | ||
| 1994 | Aphrodite and the Others | Gillian Bouras | McPhee Gribble | ||
| 1995 | The First Book of Samuel | Ursula Dubosarsky | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 1996 | Caravanserai | Allen & Unwin | |||
| 1997 | The Fiftieth Gate | Mark Raphael Baker | HarperCollins Australia | ||
| 1999 | Mortal Divide: the Autobiography of Yiorgos Alexandroglou | George Alexander | Brandl & Schlesinger | ||
| 2000 | The Binna-Binna Man | Meme McDonald and Boori Monty Pryor | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2001 | Rabbit-Proof Fence | Jabal Films | |||
| 2002 | Visits Home: Migration Experiences between Italy and Australia | Loretta Baldassar | Melbourne University Press | ||
| 2003 | Secrets and Spies: The Harbin Files | Mara Moustafine | Random House Australia | ||
| 2004 | Against Paranoid Nationalism: Searching for Hope in a Shrinking Society | Ghassan Hage | Pluto Press Australia | ||
| 2005 | A Certain Maritime Incident: the sinking of SIEV X | Tony Kevin | Scribe Publications | ||
| 2006 | The Secret River | Kate Grenville | Text Publishing | ||
| 2007 | The Arrival | Shaun Tan | Hachette Australia | ||
| 2008 | Sunrise West | Jacob G. Rosenberg | Brandl & Schlesinger | ||
| 2009 | Destination Australia: migration to Australia since 1901 | Eric Richards | UNSW Press | ||
| 2010 | Leave to Remain: A Memoir | Abbas El-Zein | Penguin Books Australia | ||
| 2011 | The English Class | Ouyang Yu | Transit Lounge Publishing | ||
| 2012 | Good Living Street: The Fortunes of My Viennese Family | Tim Bonyhady | Allen & Unwin | ||
| 2013 | Don't Go Back to Where You Came From | Tim Soutphommasane | NewSouth | ||
| 2014 | Questions of Travel | Michelle de Kretser | Allen & Unwin | [73] | |
| The Secret River | Andrew Bovell | Currency Press | |||
| 2015 | Matthew Klugman and Gary Osmond | NewSouth | [74] | ||
| 2016 | Good Muslim Boy | Osamah Sami | Hardie Grant | [75] | |
| 2017 | The Hate Race | Maxine Beneba Clarke | Hachette Australia | [76] | |
| 2018 | The Permanent Resident | Roanna Gonsalves | UWA | [77] | |
| 2019 | The Lebs | Michael Mohammed Ahmad | Hachette Australia | [78] | |
| 2020 | The Pillars | Peter Polites | Hachette Australia | ||
| 2021 | Throat | Ellen van Neerven | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2022 | Still Alive: Notes from Australia's Immigration Detention System | Safdar Ahmed | Twelve Panels Press | [79] | |
| 2023 | The Eulogy | Jackie Bailey | Hardie Grant | [80] | |
| 2024 | Stay for Dinner | Sandhya Parappukkaran, illustrated by Michelle Pereira | Hardie Grant |
The UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing (originally the UTS Award for New Writing) is given for a published book of fiction by an author who has not previously published a work of fiction that is book-length. It was established in 2005, and the winner receives a prize . from the University of Technology, Sydney.[81] [82]
The award was renamed in 2008 to honour Glenda Adams, the Australian novelist and short story writer who died in 2007.[83]
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Last Ride | Denise Young | HarperCollins Australia | |||
| An Accidental Terrorist | Steven Lang | University of Queensland Press | |||
| Swallow the Air | Tara June Winch | University of Queensland Press | |||
| Feather Man | Rhyll McMaster | Brandl & Schlesinger | |||
| The Boat | Nam Le | Penguin Books Australia | |||
| Document Z | Andrew Croome | Allen & Unwin | |||
| Traitor | Stephen Daisley | Text Publishing | |||
| The Roving Party | Rohan Wilson | ||||
| The Last Thread | Michael Sala | Affirm Press | |||
| The Night Guest | Fiona McFarlane | Penguin Group (Australia) | |||
| An Elegant Young Man | Luke Carman | Giramondo Publishing | |||
| An Astronaut’s Life | Sonja Dechian | Text Publishing | [84] | ||
| Letter to Pessoa | Michelle Cahill | Giramondo Publishing | |||
| The Book of Dirt | Bram Presser | Text Publishing | |||
| Boy Swallows Universe | Trent Dalton | HarperCollins | |||
| Real Differences | S L Lim | Transit Lounge | |||
| Cherry Beach | Laura McPhee-Browne | Text Publishing | |||
| Hold Your Fire | Chloe WIlson | Scribner | [85] | ||
| We Come With This Place | Debra Dank | Echo Publishing | |||
| 2024 | Anam | André Dao | Penguin Random House |
The Play Award, established in 1983, is given to a play or musical which has been produced in Australia. The winner is chosen based purely on the merit of the written text,[86] and they receive a A$30,000 prize . The award was first given to playwright Nicholas Enright and composer Terence Clarke for the musical Variations. Writers Daniel Keene and Stephen Sewell have each won the Award three times.[9]
In 2010, the judges decided not to shortlist any plays for the Award, instead bestowing a $30,000 grant for new playwrights. Their decision was widely criticised by many of Australia's most experienced playwrights.[87] Gil Appleton, head of the judging panel, called for all future judges to see a performance of the play rather than judging the work on the script alone.[5]
| Year | Title | Author | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Variations | Nicholas Enright and Terence Clarke | [88] | |
| 1984 | Down an Alley Filled with Cats | Warwick Moss | ||
| 1985 | The Blind Giant is Dancing | Stephen Sewell | ||
| 1986 | Away | Michael Gow | ||
| 1987 | Blood Relations | David Malouf | ||
| 1988 | The Rivers of China | Alma De Groen | ||
| 1989 | Hate | Stephen Sewell | ||
| 1991 | Hotel Sorrento | Hannie Rayson | ||
| 1992 | Cosi | Louis Nowra | ||
| 1993 | Dead Heart | Nicholas Parsons | ||
| 1994 | Sex Diary of an Infidel | Michael Gurr | ||
| 1995 | Sweet Phoebe | Michael Gow | ||
| Falling From Grace | Hannie Rayson | |||
| 1996 | The Shoe-Horn Sonata | John Misto | ||
| 1997 | Jerusalem | Michael Gurr | ||
| 1999 | Box the Pony | Scott Rankin and Leah Purcell | ||
| 2000 | Scissors, Paper, Rock | Daniel Keene | ||
| 2001 | Milo's Wake | Margery Forde and Michael Forde | ||
| 2002 | Miss Tanaka | John Romeril | ||
| 2003 | Half & Half | Daniel Keene | ||
| 2004 | Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America | Stephen Sewell | ||
| 2005 | Harbour | Katherine Thomson | ||
| 2006 | Strangers in Between | Tommy Murphy | ||
| 2007 | Holding the Man | Tommy Murphy, adapted from the book by Timothy Conigrave | ||
| 2008 | Stories in the Dark | Debra Oswald | ||
| 2009 | The Serpent's Teeth | Daniel Keene | ||
| 2011 | Do Not Go Gentle | Patricia Cornelius | ||
| 2012 | Porn, Cake | Vanessa Bates | ||
| 2012 | The Gift | Joanna Murray-Smith | ||
| 2013 | The Damned | Reg Cribb | ||
| 2014 | Muff | Van Badham | ||
| 2015 | Black Diggers | Tom Wright | [89] | |
| 2016 | The Bleeding Tree | Angus Cerini | [90] | |
| 2017 | The Drover's Wife | Leah Purcell | ||
| 2018 | Black is the New White | Nakkiah Lui | ||
| 2019 | The Almighty Sometimes | Kendall Feaver | ||
| 2020 | Counting and Cracking | S. Shakthidharan | ||
| 2021 | Milk | Dylan Van Den Berg | ||
| 2022 | Orange Thrower | Kristy Marillier | [91] | |
| 2023 | Whitefella Yella Tree | Dylan Van Den Berg | ||
| 2024 | Sex Magick | Nicholas Brown |
In 1984, the Film Writing Award and the Television Writing Award were established, followed by the Radio Writing Award in 1988. In 1990, these three awards were amalgamated into the Script Writing Award. It is given for the script of a film, radio program or television program, which may be fiction or a documentary. The winner is chosen based purely on the merit of the written text,[92] and they receive a A$30,000 prize . The award was first given jointly to the film scripts for Sweetie and An Angel at My Table. Directors Jane Campion and Rolf de Heer have each won the Award twice.[9]
| Year | Title | Author | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Careful, He Might Hear You (Film Writing Award) | Michael Jenkins | ||
| Scales of Justice (Television Writing Award) | Robert Caswell | |||
| 1985 | My First Wife (Film Writing Award) | Bob Ellis and Paul Cox | ||
| The Cowra Breakout (Television Writing Award) | Margaret Kelly, Chris Noonan, Phillip Noyce and Russell Braddon | |||
| 1986 | Bliss (Film Writing Award) | Peter Carey and Ray Lawrence | ||
| 1987 | Malcolm (Film Writing Award) | David Parker | ||
| Two Friends (Television Writing Award) | Helen Garner | |||
| 1988 | High Tide (Film Writing Award) | Laura Jones | ||
| Australia-Japan: A Love Story (Radio Writing Award) | Keith Gallasch and Virginia Baxter | |||
| Olive (Television Writing Award) | Anthony Wheeler | |||
| The Story of Anger Lee Bredenza (Radio Writing Award) | Alana Valentine | |||
| The True Believers (Television Writing Award) | Bob Ellis and Stephen Ramsay | |||
| 1990 | Sweetie | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | ||
| An Angel at My Table | Laura Jones | |||
| 1992 | Dingo | Marc Rosenberg | ||
| 1993 | Strictly Ballroom | Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce | ||
| 1994 | Bad Boy Bubby | Rolf de Heer | ||
| 1995 | "Playing the Ego Card", Frontline | Jane Kennedy, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch | ||
| 1996 | Blue Murder | Ian David | ||
| 1997 | Trevor Graham | |||
| 1999 | Dance Me to My Song | Heather Rose, Frederick Stahl and Rolf de Heer | ||
| 2000 | Looking for Alibrandi | Melina Marchetta | ||
| 2001 | Rabbit-Proof Fence | Christine Olsen | ||
| 2002 | My Mother India | Safina Uberoi | ||
| 2003 | Till Human Voices Wake Us | Michael Petroni | ||
| 2004 | Marking Time | John Doyle | ||
| 2005 | The Art of War | Betty Churcher | ||
| 2006 | Chris Lilley | |||
| 2007 | The Home Song Stories | Tony Ayres | ||
| 2008 | Forbidden Lie$ | Anna Broinowski | ||
| 2009 | First Australians | Louis Nowra, Rachel Perkins & Beck Cole | ||
| 2010 | Bright Star | Jane Campion | ||
| Fairweather Man | Aviva Ziegler | |||
| 2011 | Offspring | Debra Oswald | ||
| 2012 | Rake (Episode 1): R v Murray | Peter Duncan | ||
| 2013 | Dead Europe | Louise Fox | ||
| 2014 | Devil's Dust (two-part series) | Kris Mrksa | ||
| 2015 | The Babadook | Jennifer Kent | [93] | |
| 2016 | Deadline Gallipoli, Episode 4: 'The Letter' | Cate Shortland | [94] | |
| 2017 | The Code, Series 2 Episode 4 | Shelley Birse (joint winner) | ||
| Down Under | Abe Forsythe (joint winner) | |||
| 2018 | Deep Water: The Real Story | Amanda Blue and Jacob Hickey (joint winners) | ||
| , "Birthday" Series 2 Episode 4 | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee (joint winners) | |||
| 2019 | Jirga | Benjamin Gilmour | ||
| 2020 | Missing | Kylie Boltin (joint winner) | ||
| The Cry, Episode 2 | Jacquelin Perske (joint winner) | |||
| 2021 | Freeman | Laurence Billiet | ||
| 2022 | NITRAM | Shaun Grant | [95] | |
| 2023 | Blaze | Del Kathryn Barton and Huna Amweero | ||
| 2024 | Safe Home, Episode 1 | Anna Barnes |
Awarded biennially, the Prize for Literary Scholarship was made to a book, CD-ROM or DVD which presents an original perspective on one or more published works. The winner received a A$30,000 prize. It was discontinued and has not been awarded since 2010.[9] [96]
| Year | Title | Author | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Broken Song: T.G.H. Strehlow and Aboriginal Possession | Barry Hill | |
| 2006 | Postcolonial Conrad: Paradoxes of Empire | Terry Collits | |
| 2008 | Samuel Taylor Coleridge: a Literary Life | William Christie | |
| 2010 | Networked Language: Culture and History in Australian Poetry | Philip Mead |
This award was established in 2009 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the awards.[97] The Award is based on votes by New South Wales residents from the works shortlisted for the Christina Stead Prize for fiction. The award was first won by Steve Toltz for his novel, A Fraction of the Whole.[98]
| Year | Title | Author | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | A Fraction of the Whole | Steve Toltz | ||
| 2010 | The World Beneath | Cate Kennedy | ||
| 2011 | Lovesong | Alex Miller | ||
| 2012 | Five Bells | Gail Jones | ||
| 2013 | Animal People | Charlotte Wood | ||
| 2014 | The Railwayman's Wife | Ashley Hay | ||
| 2015 | Only the Animals (joint winner)The Golden Age (joint winner) | Ceridwen DoveyJoan London | [99] | |
| 2016 | The Life of Houses | Lisa Gorton | [100] | |
| 2017 | Vancouver #3 in the series Wisdom Tree | Nick Earls | ||
| 2018 | The Book of Dirt | Bram Presser | ||
| 2019 | Boy Swallows Universe | Trent Dalton | [101] | |
| 2020 | The Yield | Tara June Winch | ||
| 2021 | The Dictionary of Lost Words | Pip Williams | ||
| 2022 | The Shut Ins | Katherine Brabon | [102] | |
| 2023 | Every Version of You | Grace Chan | ||
| 2024 | The God of No Good | Sita Walker |
The winner of the New South Wales Book of the Year is chosen from among the winners of that year's awards, with the award worth an extra A$10,000 .[103]
| Year | Title | Author | Other Award | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Selected Poems | Elizabeth Riddell | Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry | ||
| 1993 | Tjarany Roughtail | Gracie Green, Lucille Gill and Joe Tramacchi | Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature | ||
| 1994 | Seasonal Adjustments | Adib Khan | Christina Stead Prize for Fiction | ||
| 1995 | The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia | David Horton | Special Award | ||
| 1996 | Hunters and Collectors: The Antiquarian Imagination in Australia | Tom Griffiths | Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction | ||
| 1997 | The Drowner | Robert Drewe | Christina Stead Prize for Fiction | ||
| 1999 | H M Bark Endeavour | Ray Parkin | Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction | ||
| 2000 | The Binna-Binna Man | Meme McDonald and Boori Monty Pryor | Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature | ||
| 2001 | Broken Circles: Fragmenting Indigenous Families 1800-2000 | Anna Haebich | Gleebooks Prize | ||
| 2002 | The Lovemakers | Alan Wearne | Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry | ||
| 2003 | Looking for Blackfellas' Point: An Australian History of Place | Mark McKenna | Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction | ||
| 2004 | Shanghai Dancing | Brian Castro | Christina Stead Prize for Fiction | ||
| 2005 | Smoke Encrypted Whispers | Samuel Wagan Watson | Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry | ||
| 2006 | The Weather Makers | Tim Flannery | Gleebooks Prize for Critical Writing | ||
| 2007 | The Arrival | Shaun Tan | Community Relations Commission Award | ||
| 2008 | The Lost Dog | Michelle de Kretser | Christina Stead Prize for Fiction | ||
| 2009 | The Boat | Nam Le | UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing | ||
| 2010 | Kill Khalid: Mossad's failed hit ... and the rise of Hamas | Paul McGeough | Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction | ||
| 2011 | Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs | Malcolm Fraser and Margaret Simons | Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction | ||
| 2012 | That Deadman Dance | Kim Scott | Christina Stead Prize for Fiction | ||
| 2013 | Ruby Moonlight | Ali Cobby Eckermann | Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry | ||
| 2014 | Questions of Travel | Michelle de Kretser | Christina Stead Prize for Fiction | ||
| 2015 | The Bush | Don Watson | Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction | ||
| 2016 | Dark Emu | Bruce Pascoe | Indigenous Writers Prize | [104] | |
| 2017 | The Drover's Wife | Leah Purcell | Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting | ||
| 2018 | Taboo | Kim Scott | Indigenous Writers Prize | ||
| 2019 | Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia | Billy Griffiths | Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction | ||
| 2020 | The Yield | Tara June Winch | Christina Stead Prize for Fiction | ||
| 2021 | Throat | Ellen van Neerven | Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry | ||
| 2022 | Still Alive: Notes from Australia’s Immigration Detention System | Safdar Ahmed | Twelve Panels Press | [105] | |
| 2023 | We Come With This Place | Debra Dank | Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction | ||
| 2024 | She Is the Earth | Ali Cobby Eckermann | Indigenous Writers' Prize |
The Special Award can be proposed by the judges for a work that doesn't easily fit into the existing prizes, or as a general recognition of a writer's achievements.[9] [106] The winner received a A$10,000 prize .[103]
Awarded biennially, the Translation Prize is offered to Australian translators who translate works into English from other languages. The winner receives a A$30,000 prize .[103] It will next be awarded in 2025.[9] [108]
| Year | Recipient | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Mabel Lee | |
| 2003 | Julie Rose | |
| 2005 | Chris Andrews | |
| 2007 | John Nieuwenhuizen | |
| 2009 | David Colmer | |
| 2011 | Ian Johnston | |
| 2013 | ||
| 2015 | Brian Nelson | |
| 2017 | Royall Tyler | |
| 2019 | Alison Entrekin | |
| 2021 | Alice Whitmore | |
| Nick Trakakis | ||
| 2023 | Tiffany Tsao |
The Multicultural NSW Early Career Translator Prize was established in 2015. It is sponsored by Multicultural NSW and the winner currently receives a A$5,000 prize. The award acknowledges translators in the first ten years of their practice.[109]
| Year | Recipient | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Lilit Zekulin Thwaites | [110] | |
| 2017 | Jan Owen | [111] | |
| 2022 | Safdar Ahmed | [112] |
The inaugural Indigenous Writers' Prize was awarded in 2016. The prize is offered biennially and the winner receives a A$30,000 prize. The prize is intended to acknowledge the contribution made to Australian literary culture by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers.[113] The first award was shared by joint winners, Bruce Pascoe for his book Dark Emu and Ellen van Neerven for Heat and Light.[114]
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Dark Emu (joint winner) | Bruce Pascoe | Magabala Books | [115] | |
| Heat and Light (joint winner) | Ellen van Neerven | University of Queensland Press | [116] | ||
| 2018 | Taboo | Kim Scott | Text Publishing | ||
| 2020 | The White Girl | Tony Birch | University of Queensland Press | ||
| 2022 | Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray: River of Dreams | Anita Heiss | Simon & Schuster | [117] | |
| 2023 | We Come With This Place | Debra Dank | Echo Publishing | ||
| 2024 | She Is the Earth | Ali Cobby Eckermann | Magabala Books |
The Gleebooks Prize was established in 1995 and was offered for Australian critical writing. The winner received a A$10,000 prize.[118] It was last awarded in 2009 to David Love and its current status is unknown.[9]
| Year | Title | Author | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Volatile Bodies, Towards a Corporeal Feminism | Elizabeth Grosz | |
| 1996 | Artful Histories: Modern Australian Autobiography | David McCooey | |
| 1997 | Love and Freedom: Professional Women and the Reshaping of Personal Life | Alison Mackinnon | |
| 1999 | Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin: A World that Is, Was and Will Be | Diane Bell | |
| 2000 | Reading the Holocaust | Inga Clendinnen | |
| 2001 | Broken Circles: Fragmenting Indigenous Families 1800-2000 | Anna Haebich | |
| 2002 | Borderline: Australia's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers | Peter Mares | |
| 2003 | How Simone de Beauvoir Died in Australia | Sylvia Lawson | |
| 2004 | The Artificial Horizon: Imagining the Blue Mountains | Martin Thomas | |
| 2005 | Blackfellas Whitefellas and the Hidden Injuries of Race | Gillian Cowlishaw | |
| 2006 | The Weather Makers: the History and Future Impact of Climate Change | Tim Flannery | |
| 2007 | Asbestos House: the Secret History of James Hardie Industries | Gideon Haigh | |
| 2008 | Race and the Crisis of Humanism | Kay Anderson | |
| 2009 | David Love |