With 54 outstanding works by 60 authors and illustrators selected by 32 judges across 12 prize categories from 834 entries, the shortlists for the 2024 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced.
“Through the power of words, writers ignite our imagination, inspire deep reflection, and transport us to both real and fantastical worlds,” said NSW Minister for Arts, John Graham.
“This Government has a long and proud history of supporting excellence in literature and history. The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards highlight the Government’s ongoing commitment to celebrating the outstanding achievements of Australian writers,” said Mr Graham.
“These prestigious Awards bring to the forefront the power of storytelling to inspire, challenge, and connect us all. We hope as many readers as possible take the opportunity to explore this impressive list of shortlisted works,” said State Librarian, Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon.
The Awards are administered by the State Library of NSW in association with Create NSW and judged by an independent committee of writers, academics, critics and other sector professionals.
“Unsurprisingly a considerable number of this year’s shortlisted texts address the complexities of grief, trauma and the multitudinous effects of an ever-present past,” said 2024 Senior Judge, Dr Bernadette Brennan
“The quality of writing, the range of voices, forms and stories, and often the sheer daring of these narratives, attest to the breadth and depth of Australia’s literary talent.”
The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, established in 1979, were the first Premier’s Literary Awards to be offered in Australia. For 42 years these Awards have celebrated Australia’s best writers and played a pivotal role in fostering a rich and diverse literary culture across the state.
Past winners have included such notable writers as Peter Carey, David Malouf AO, Elizabeth Jolley, Thomas Keneally AO, Helen Garner, Michelle de Kretser, Peter Polites, Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Ellen van Neerven.
Voting is now open for the University of Sydney People’s Choice Award. The winner will be chosen by the public from the shortlist for the 2024 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction. Vote now via the State Library of NSW website.
The winners of the Premier’s Literary Awards will be announced at the State Library of NSW at the start of the Sydney Writers’ Festival on Monday 20 May 2024. For more information, visit: www.sl.nsw.gov.au for details.
Image: A selection of 2024 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards titles (supplied)
2024 NSW PREMIER’S LITERARY AWARDS:
Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000)
• The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane (Allen & Unwin)
• Prima Facie by Suzie Miller (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• The Sitter by Angela O’Keeffe (UQP)
• Shirley by Ronnie Scott (Penguin Random House Australia)
• The Crying Room by Gretchen Shirm (Transit Lounge)
• Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright (Giramondo Publishing)
Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction ($40,000)
• Childhood by Shannon Burns (Text Publishing)
• Ghosts of the Orphanage: A Story of Mysterious Deaths, A Conspiracy of Silence, and a Search for Justice by Christine Kenneally (Hachette Australia)
• Here Be Monsters: Is Technology Reducing Our Humanity? by Richard King (Monash University Publishing)
• Our Concealed Ballast by Marian Macken (Vagabond Press)
• Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity by Ellen van Neerven (UQP)
• The God of No Good by Sita Walker (Ultimo Press)
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry ($30,000)
• Hunger and Predation by Pooja Mittal Biswas (Cordite Publishing)
• Moon Wrasse by Willo Drummond (Puncher & Wattmann)
• Burn by Libby Hart (Lepus Print)
• Spore or Seed by Caitlin Maling (Fremantle Press)
• Non-Essential Work by Omar Sakr (UQP)
• Riverbed Sky Songs by Tais Rose Wae (Vagabond Press)
Highly Commended
• Like to the Lark by Stuart Barnes (Upswell Publishing)
• I Saw the Best Memes of My Generation by Dominic Symes (Recent Work Press)
Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature ($30,000)
• Leaf-light by Trace Balla (Allen & Unwin Children’s Publishing)
• Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth by Anna Fienberg (Allen & Unwin Children’s Publishing)
• The Raven’s Song by Zana Fraillon and Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin Children’s Publishing)
• Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers by Margo Neale, Lynne Kelly and illustrated by Blak Douglas (Thames & Hudson Australia)
• Paradise Sands: A Story of Enchantment by Levi Pinfold (Walker Books Australia)
• Australia: Country of Colour by Jess Racklyeft (Affirm Press)
Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature ($30,000)
• Royals by Tegan Bennett Daylight (Simon & Schuster Australia)
• Grace Notes by Karen Comer (Hachette Australia)
• The Quiet and the Loud by Helena Fox (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• We Could Be Something by Will Kostakis (Allen & Unwin Children’s Publishing)
• We Didn’t Think It Through by Gary Lonesborough (Allen & Unwin Children’s Publishing)
• Selfie by Allayne L Webster (Text Publishing)
Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting ($30,000)
• Telethon Kid by Alistair Baldwin (Malthouse Theatre)
• don’t ask what the bird look like by Hannah Belanszky (Queensland Theatre)
• Sex Magick by Nicholas Brown (Griffin Theatre Company & Currency Press)
• Unprecedented by Campion Decent (HotHouse Theatre)
• RBG: Of Many, One by Suzie Miller (Sydney Theatre Company & Currency Press)
• Blue by Thomas Weatherall (Belvoir Street Theatre)
Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting ($30,000)
• Safe Home, Episode 1 by Anna Barnes (Kindling Pictures)
• The Giants by Laurence Billiet and Rachael Antony (General Strike & Matchbox Pictures)
• Late Night with the Devil by Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes (Future Pictures)
• Poor Things by Tony McNamara (Searchlight Pictures & Element Pictures)
• Shayda by Noora Niasari (Origma 45, Dirty Films & Parandeh Pictures)
• The New Boy by Warwick Thornton (Dirty Films & Scarlett Pictures)
Highly Commended
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Episode 1, ‘Black Fire Orchid’ by Sarah Lambert (Made Up Stories & Amazon Prime)
Indigenous Writers’ Prize ($30,000)
• Close to the Subject: Selected Works by Daniel Browning (Magabala Books)
• She is the Earth by Ali Cobby Eckermann (Magabala Books)
• We Didn’t Think It Through by Gary Lonesborough (Allen & Unwin Children’s Publishing)
• Firelight by John Morrissey (Text Publishing)
• Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity by Ellen van Neerven (UQP)
• Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright (Giramondo Publishing)
Multicultural NSW Award ($30,000 – sponsored by Multicultural NSW)
• Anam by André Dao (Penguin Random House Australia)
• The Shape of Dust: A father wrongly imprisoned. A daughter’s quest to free him by Lamisse Hamouda (Pantera Press)
• Stay for Dinner by Sandhya Parappukkaran, illustrated by Michelle Pereira (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
• God Forgets About the Poor by Peter Polites (Ultimo Press)
• Non-Essential Work by Omar Sakr (UQP)
• Songs for the Dead and the Living by Sara M Saleh (Affirm Press)
UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing ($5000 — sponsored by UTS)
• Elegy for an Elephant by Ryan Abramowitz (Narratives of Nature)
• the body country by Susie Anderson (Hachette Australia)
• don’t ask what the bird look like by Hannah Belanszky (Queensland Theatre)
• You’ll Never Find Me by Indianna Bell (Stakeout Films)
• Childhood by Shannon Burns (Text Publishing)
• Grace Notes by Karen Comer (Hachette Australia)
• Anam by André Dao (Penguin Random House Australia)
• as good a woman as ever broke bread by Alex McInnis (Puncher & Wattmann)
• Firelight by John Morrissey (Text Publishing)