With a total of $305,000 offered across 13 prizes, the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced at a ceremony at the State Library of NSW on Monday evening.
Established in 1979, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have a proud history, both in celebrating achievement by Australian writers and in helping to establish values and standards in Australian literature, and have recognised hundreds of talented Australian writers: novelists, poets, playwrights, scriptwriters, translators, and authors of non-fiction and children’s books.
“Tonight we celebrate our most talented writers and I am thrilled this year’s inaugural Indigenous Prize has been awarded to two of our best Indigenous authors,” said NSW Premier Mike Baird. “On behalf of the NSW Government, I congratulate all winners and shortlisted authors of the 2016 Awards whose works exemplify the high standard of Australian literature.”
The 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards winners are:
Book of the Year ($10,000)
Dark Emu – Bruce Pascoe (Magabala Books)
Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000)
Locust Girl. A Lovesong – Merlinda Bobis (Spinifex Press)
UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing ($5,000 – sponsored by UTS)
An Astronaut’s Life – Sonja Dechian (Text Publishing)
Douglas Stewart Prize for Non?fiction ($40,000)
Reckoning: A Memoir – Magda Szubanski (Text Publishing)
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry ($30,000)
brush – Joanne Burns (Giramondo)
Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature ($30,000)
Teacup – Rebecca Young & Matt Ottley (Scholastic Australia)
Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature ($30,000)
Laurinda – Alice Pung (Black Inc.)
Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting ($30,000)
The Bleeding Tree – Angus Cerini (Currency Press in association with Griffin Theatre Company)
Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting ($30,000)
Deadline Gallipoli, Episode 4: The Letter – Cate Shortland (Matchbox Pictures)
Multicultural NSW Award ($20,000)
Good Muslim Boy – Osamah Sami (Hardie Grant Books)
Indigenous Writers Prize ($30,000) (NEW PRIZE) – joint winners
Dark Emu – Bruce Pascoe (Magabala Books)
Heat and Light – Ellen van Neerven (University of Queensland Press)
Special Award ($10,000)
Dr Rosie Scott AM
People’s Choice Award
The Life of Houses – Lisa Gorton (Giramondo)
“The State Library of NSW is the home of literature in this great state. Each year it is wonderful to see how these awards celebrate the diversity of ideas of our community of writers,” said Alex Byrne, NSW State Librarian and Chief Executive. “We are proud to manage the Premier’s Literary Awards in association with Arts NSW.”
For more information, visit: www.sl.nsw.gov.au for details.
Image: Winners of the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards – courtesy of the State Library of NSW