The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary prize with the top winner receiving 125,000 and category winners 25,000 each.[1]
The awards were established in 1985 by John Cain, Premier of Victoria, to mark the centenary of the births of Vance and Nettie Palmer, two of Australia's best-known writers and critics who made significant contributions to Victorian and Australian literary culture.
From 1986 till 1997, the awards were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. In 1997 their administration was transferred to the State Library of Victoria.[2] By 2004, the total prize money was 180,000. In 2011, stewardship was taken over by the Wheeler Centre.
Beginning in 2011,[3] the awards were restructured into 5 categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Drama and Young People's. The winner of each receives $25,000. Of those 5 winners, one is chosen as the overall winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature and receives an additional $100,000. There are two other categories with different prize amounts: an honorary People's Choice Award voted on by readers, and an Unpublished Manuscript Award with a prize amount of $15,000.[1] In 2022 an Award for Children's Literature valued at $25,000 was added, with entries being accepted in 2023.[4]
Shortlists are maintained in the main article for each category.
| Year | Author | Title | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | That Deadman Dance | [5] | ||
| 2012 | [6] | |||
| 2013 | Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.Previous awards were based on the year of publication. | |||
| 2014 | Liquid Nitrogen | [7] | ||
| 2015 | [8] | |||
| 2016 | Broken | [9] | ||
| 2017 | [10] | |||
| 2018 | [11] | |||
| 2019 | No Friend But the Mountains Writing from Manus Prison | [12] | ||
| 2020 | with Eamon Flack | Counting and Cracking | [13] | |
| 2021 | [14] | |||
| 2022 | Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience | [15] | ||
| 2023 | Cold Enough for Snow | [16] | ||
| 2024 | Chinese Fish | [17] | ||
See main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction.
For winners from 1985 to 2010, see Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction.
| Year | Author | Title | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | That Deadman Dance | |||
| 2012 | Foal's Bread | |||
| 2013 | Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.Previous awards were based on the year of publication. | |||
| 2014 | Coal Creek | |||
| 2015 | To Name Those Lost | |||
| 2016 | ||||
| 2017 | Between a Wolf and a Dog | |||
| 2018 | Australia Day | |||
| 2019 | ||||
| 2020 | Damascus | |||
| 2021 | ||||
| 2022 | Smokehouse | |||
| 2023 | Cold Enough for Snow | |||
| 2024 | Edenglassie | |||
See main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction.
For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction.
| Year | Author | Title | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | An Eye for Eternity: The Life Of Manning Clark | |||
| 2012 | ||||
| 2013 | Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.Previous awards were based on the year of publication. | |||
| 2014 | Forgotten War | |||
| 2015 | ||||
| 2016 | Something for the Pain | |||
| 2017 | Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus | |||
| 2018 | ||||
| 2019 | No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison | |||
| 2020 | Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia | |||
| 2021 | Body Count: How Climate Change Is Killing Us | |||
| 2022 | ||||
| 2023 | Root & Branch: Essays on Inheritance | |||
| 2024 | Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity | |||
See main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry.
For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry.
| Year | Author | Title | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | ||||
| 2012 | Armour | |||
| 2013 | Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.Previous awards were based on the year of publication. | |||
| 2014 | Liquid Nitrogen | |||
| 2015 | ||||
| 2016 | Crankhandle | |||
| 2017 | Carrying the World | |||
| 2018 | Argosy | |||
| 2019 | Tilt | |||
| 2020 | Nganajungu Yagu | |||
| 2021 | Case Notes | |||
| 2022 | Trigger Warning | |||
| 2023 | At the Altar of Touch | |||
| 2024 | Chinese Fish | |||
See main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Writing for Young Adults.
For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction.
| Year | Author | Title | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | ||||
| 2012 | ||||
| 2013 | Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.Previous awards were based on the year of publication. | |||
| 2014 | My Life as an Alphabet | |||
| 2015 | ||||
| 2016 | Welcome to Orphancorp | |||
| 2017 | When Michael met Mina | |||
| 2018 | Living on Hope Street | |||
| 2019 | and Ezekiel Kwaymullina | Catching Teller Crow | ||
| 2020 | How It Feels to Float | |||
| 2021 | Metal Fish, Falling Snow | |||
| 2022 | Girls in Boys' Cars | |||
| 2023 | We Who Hunt the Hollow | |||
| 2024 | A Hunger of Thorns | |||
See main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Drama.
For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Louis Esson Prize for Drama.
| Year | Author | Title | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Do not go gentle… | |||
| 2012 | ||||
| 2013 | Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.Previous awards were based on the year of publication. | |||
| 2014 | Savages | |||
| 2015 | Resplendence | |||
| 2016 | Broken | |||
| 2017 | ||||
| 2018 | Rice | |||
| 2019 | ||||
| 2020 | with Eamon Flack | Counting and Cracking | ||
| 2021 | Wonnangatta | |||
| 2022 | Milk | |||
| 2023 | The Return | |||
| 2024 | and Eamon Flack | The Jungle and the Sea | ||
| Year | Author | Title | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Into The Woods: The Battle for Tasmania's Forests | |||
| 2012 | National Interest | |||
| 2013 | Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.Previous awards were based on the year of publication. | |||
| 2014 | Burial Rites | |||
| 2015 | Where Song Began | |||
| 2016 | Fever of Animals | |||
| 2017 | When Michael met Mina | |||
| 2018 | Ida | |||
| 2019 | Eggshell Skull | |||
| 2020 | The Girls | |||
| 2021 | Witness: An Investigation into the Brutal Cost of Seeking Justice | |||
| 2022 | Tiger Daughter | |||
| 2023 | and Krystal De Napoli | Astronomy: Sky Country | ||
| 2024 | The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World | |||
See main article: Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award.
For winners from 2003 to 2010, see the main article. No award was presented in 2011.
| Year | Author | Title | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | [18] | |||
| 2013 | Foreign Soil | |||
| 2014 | Fever of Animals | |||
| 2015 | ||||
| 2016 | Australia Day | |||
| 2017 | Decay Theory | |||
| 2019 | Kokomo | |||
| 2020 | Hovering | |||
| 2021 | Anam | |||
| 2022 | Fauna of Mirrors | |||
| 2023 | One Divine Night | |||
| 2024 | Panajachel |
See main article: Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing.
| Year | Author | Title | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Her Sister's Eye | [19] | ||
| 2006 | Swallow the Air | |||
| 2008 | Anonymous Premonition | |||
| 2010 | Legacy | |||
| 2012 | Am I Black Enough For You? | [20] | ||
| 2014 | Mullumbimby | [21] | ||
| 2016 | Ghost River | [22] | ||
| 2019 | Taboo | |||
| 2021 | Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music | |||
| 2022 | Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience | |||
| 2023 | The Upwelling | |||
| 2024 | Close to the Subject: Selected Works |
From 1985 to 2010 prizes were offered in some or all of the below categories.