The Age Book of the Year Awards

Australian literary award From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Age Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's The Age newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Initially, two awards were given, one for fiction (or imaginative writing), the other for non-fiction work, but in 1993, a poetry award in honour of Dinny O'Hearn was added.[1] The criteria were that the works be "of outstanding literary merit and express Australian identity or character,"[1] and be published in the year before the award was made. One of the award-winners was chosen as The Age Book of the Year. The awards were discontinued in 2013.

In 2021 The Age Book of the Year was revived as a fiction prize, with the winner announced at the Melbourne Writers Festival. A non-fiction prize was added the following year.[2]

The Age Book of the Year (from 2021)

Fiction

More information Year, Author ...
The Age Book of the Year Awards winners
Year Author Title Result Ref.
2021 Robbie Arnott The Rain Heron Won [3][4]
Steven ConteThe Tolstoy EstateShortlisted[5]
Richard FlanaganThe Living Sea of Waking Dreams
Kate GrenvilleA Room Made of Leaves
Amanda LohreyThe Labyrinth
Nardi SimpsonSong of the Crocodile
Adam ThompsonBorn into This
2022 Miles Allinson In Moonland Won [6]
Jessica AuCold Enough for SnowShortlisted[7]
Larissa BehrendtAfter Story
Brendan ColleyThe Signal Line
Jennifer DownBodies of Light
Diana ReidLove & Virtue
2023 Robbie Arnott Limberlost Won [8]
Grace ChanEvery Version of YouShortlisted
Paul DalgarnoA Country of Eternal Light
Shirley LeFunny Ethnics
Fiona McFarlaneThe Sun Walks Down
Alice NelsonFaithless
2024 Tony Birch* Women & Children Won [9]
Stephanie BishopAnniversary Shortlisted[10][11]
Elise HearstOne Day We're All Going to Die
Nicholas JoseThe Idealist
Charlotte WoodStone Yard Devotional
Jessica Zhan Mei YuBut the Girl
2025 Rodney Hall Vortex Won [12]
Melanie Cheng The Burrow Shortlisted [13]
David DyerThis Kingdom of Dust
Kirsty IltnersDepth of Field
Siang LuGhost Cities
Fiona McFarlaneHighway 13
2026 Moreno Giovannoni The Immigrants Won [14]
Jennifer Mills Salvage Shortlisted [15]
Omar Musa Fierceland
Leonie Norrington, Djawundil Maymuru, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs and Djawa Burarrwanga A Piece of Red Cloth
Gretchen Shirm Out of the Woods
Sean Wilson You Must Remember This
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Non-Fiction

More information Year, Author ...
The Age Book of the Year Awards winners
Year Author Title Result Ref.
2022 Bernadette Brennan Leaping into Waterfalls Won [6]
Ed Ayres Whole Notes: Life Lessons Through Music Shortlisted [7]
Jonathan Butler The Boy in the Dress
Kylie Moore-Gilbert The Uncaged Sky: My 804 Days in an Iranian Prison
Karlie Noon and Krystal De Napoli Astronomy: Sky Country
Sian Prior Childless: A Story of Freedom and Longing
2023 Kim Mahood Wandering with Intent Won [8]
Cadance Bell The All of It Shortlisted [16]
Shannon Burns Childhood
Peter Doyle Suburban Noir
Jess Ho Raised by Wolves
Mandy Sayer Those Dashing McDonagh Sisters
2024 Ross McMullin Life So Full of Promise Won [9]
Kate Fullagar Bennelong & Phillip: A History Unravelled Shortlisted [17]
Helen Hayward Home Work: Essays on Love and Housekeeping
Matthew Lamb Frank Moorhouse: Strange Paths
Ellen van Neerven Personal Score
Rachelle Unreich A Brilliant Life
2025 Lech Blaine Australian Gospel Won [12]
Mark Raphael Baker A Season of Death Shortlisted [13]
Anne ManneCrimes of the Cross
Qin QinModel Minority Gone Rogue
Samah SabawiCactus Pear for My Beloved
Clare WrightThe Bark Petitions
2026 Kate Wild The Red House Won [14]
Grantlee Kieza Mr and Mrs Gould Shortlist [18]
Tom McIlroy Blue Poles
Mark McKenna The Shortest History of Australia
Josie McSkimming Gutsy Girls
Drusilla Modjeska A Woman's Eye, Her Art
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The Age Book of the Year (from 1974–2012)

More information Year, Author ...
The Age Book of the Year Awards winners
Year Author Title Ref.
1974 David Foster The Pure Land [19]
1975 Thea Astley A Kindness Cup [20]
1976 A. D. Hope A Late Picking: Poems 1965–1974 [21]
Hugh Stretton Capitalism, Socialism and the Environment [21]
1977 Not awarded [22]
1978 Christopher Koch The Year of Living Dangerously [23]
1979 Roger McDonald 1915: A Novel of Gallipoli [24]
1980 David Ireland A Woman of the Future [25]
Murray Bail Homesickness [25]
1981 Eric Charles Rolls A Million Wild Acres [26]
1982 David Malouf Fly Away Peter [27]
1983 Elizabeth Jolley Mr Scobie's Riddle [28]
1984 Nicholas Hasluck The Bellarmine Jug [29]
1985 Peter Carey Illywhacker [30]
1986 Joan London Sister Ships and Other Stories [31]
1987 Jessica Anderson Stories from the Warm Zone [32]
1988 Frank Moorhouse Forty-Seventeen [33]
1989 Marsden Hordern Mariners are Warned: John Lort Stokes and HMA Beagle [34]
1990 Gwen Harwood Blessed City [35]
1991 David Marr Patrick White : A Life [36]
1992 Marion Halligan Lovers' Knots [37]
1993 Elizabeth Jolley The Georges' Wife [38]
1994 Peter Carey The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith [39]
1995 Chris Wallace-Crabbe Selected Poems 1956–1994 [40]
1996 Thea Astley The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow [41]
1997 Peter Carey Jack Maggs [42]
1998 Elliot Perlman Three Dollars [43]
1999 K.S. Inglis Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape [44]
2000 Amy Witting Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop [45]
2001 Rosemary Dobson Untold Lives and Later Poems [46]
2002 Don Watson Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: Paul Keating PM [47]
2003 Sonya Hartnett Of a Boy [48]
2004 Luke Davies Totem [49]
2005 Gay Bilson Plenty: Digressions on Food [50]
2006 Jennifer Maiden Friendly Fire [51]
2007 Peter Cochrane Colonial Ambition: Foundations of Australian Democracy [52]
2008 Don Watson American Journeys [53]
2009 Steven Amsterdam Things We Didn't See Coming [54]
2010 Alex Miller Lovesong [55]
2011 Fiona McGregor Indelible Ink [56]
2012 James Boyce 1835: The Founding of Melbourne & the Conquest of Australia [57]
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Fiction (or Imaginative Writing) Award

More information Year, Author ...
Fiction (or Imaginative Writing) Award winners
Year Author Title Result
1974 David Foster The Pure Land Winner[19]
1975 Thea Astley A Kindness Cup Winner[20]
1976 A. D. Hope A Late Picking: Poems 1965–1974 Winner[21]
1977 No award [58]
1978 Christopher Koch The Year of Living Dangerously Winner[23]
1979 Roger McDonald 1915: A Novel of Gallipoli Winner[24]
1980 David Ireland A Woman of the Future Winner[25]
Murray Bail Homesickness Winner[25]
1981 Blanche d'Alpuget Turtle Beach Winner[26]
1982 David Malouf Fly Away Peter Winner[27]
Thea Astley An Item from the Late News Shortlist[59]
Jean Bedford Sister Kate
Rodney Hall Just Relations
David Malouf Child's Play
Gerald Murnane The Plains
1983 Elizabeth Jolley Mr Scobie's Riddle Winner[28]
1984 Nicholas Hasluck The Bellarmine Jug Winner[60]
1985 Peter Carey Illywhacker Winner[61]
1986 Joan London Sister Ships and Other Stories Winner[31]
1987 Jessica Anderson Stories from the Warm Zone Winner[32]
1988 Frank Moorhouse Forty-Seventeen Winner[33]
1989 Elizabeth Jolley My Father's Moon Winner[34]
1990 Glenda Adams Longleg Winner[35]
1991 Brian Castro Double-Wolf Winner[36]
1992 Marion Halligan Lovers' Knots Winner[37]
1993 Elizabeth Jolley The Georges' Wife Winner[38]
1994 Peter Carey The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith Winner[39]
1995 Rod Jones Billy Sunday Winner[40]
1996 Thea Astley The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow Winner[41]
1997 Peter Carey Jack Maggs Winner[42]
1998 Elliot Perlman Three Dollars Winner[43]
1999 James Bradley The Deep Field Winner[44]
2000 Amy Witting Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop Winner[45]
2001 Peter Carey True History of the Kelly Gang Winner[46]
2002 Joan London Gilgamesh Winner[47]
2003 Sonya Hartnett Of a Boy Winner[48]
2004 Andrew McGahan The White Earth Winner[49]
2005 Gail Jones Sixty Lights Winner[50]
2006 Christos Tsiolkas Dead Europe Winner[51]
2007 David Malouf Every Move You Make Winner[52]
2008 Tim Winton Breath Winner[53]
2009 Steven Amsterdam Things We Didn't See Coming Winner[54]
2010 Alex Miller Lovesong Winner[55]
2011 Fiona McGregor Indelible Ink Winner[56]
2012 Gillian Mears Foal's Bread Winner[57]
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Non-fiction Award

More information Year, Author ...
Non-fiction Award winners
Year Author Title Ref.
1974 Manning Clark A History of Australia (Vol. 3) [19]
1975 Not awarded [20]
1976 Hugh Stretton Capitalism, Socialism and the Environment [21]
1977 Not awarded [58]
1978 Patsy Adam-Smith The Anzacs [23]
1979 Not awarded [24]
1980 Not awarded [25]
1981 Eric Charles Rolls A Million Wild Acres [26]
1982 Geoffrey Serle John Monash: A Biography [27]
1983 Lloyd Robson History of Tasmania [28]
1984 John Rickard HB Higgins: The Rebel and Judge [29]
1985 Chester Eagle Mapping the Paddocks [30]
Hugh Lunn Vietnam: A Reporter's War [30]
1986 Garry Kinnane George Johnston: A Biography [31]
1987 Robert Hughes The Fatal Shore [32]
1988 Robin Gerster Big-Noting: The Heroic Theme in Australian War Writing [33]
1989 Marsden Hordern Mariners are Warned!: John Lort Stokes and HMS Beagle in Australia 1837–1843 [34]
1990 Gwen Harwood Blessed City [35]
1991 David Marr Patrick White : A Life [36]
1992 Ruth Park A Fence Around the Cuckoo [37]
1993 Janet McCalman Journeyings [38]
1994 Jim Davidson Lyrebird Rising [39]
1995 Tim Flannery The Future Eaters [40]
1996 Geoffrey Serle Robin Boyd: A Life [41]
1997 Roberta Sykes Snake Cradle [42]
1998 Stuart MacIntyre The Reds [43]
1999 K.S. Inglis Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape [44]
2000 Kim Mahood Craft for a Dry Lake [45]
2001 Nadia Wheatley The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift [46]
2002 Don Watson Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: Paul Keating Prime Minister [47]
2003 Ann Galbally Charles Condor: The Last Bohemian [48]
2004 Peter Robb A Death in Brazil [49]
2005 Gay Bilson Plenty: Digressions on Food [50]
2006 Mandy Sayer Velocity [51]
2007 Peter Cochrane Colonial Ambition: Foundations of Australian Democracy [52]
2008 Don Watson American Journeys [53]
2009 Guy Rundle Down to the Crossroads [54]
2010 Kate Howarth Ten Hail Marys [55]
2011 Jim Davidson A Three-Cornered Life [56]
2012 James Boyce 1835: The Founding of Melbourne & the Conquest of Australia [57]
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Dinny O'Hearn Poetry Prize

More information Year, Author ...
Dinny O'Hearn Poetry Prize winners
Year Author Title Ref.
1993 John Tranter At the Florida [38]
1994 Dorothy Porter The Monkey's Mask [39]
1995 Chris Wallace-Crabbe Selected Poems 1956–1994 [40]
1996 Eric Beach Weeping for Lost Babylon [41]
1997 Emma Lew The Wild Reply [42]
Peter Porter Dragons in their Pleasant Palaces [42]
1998 John Kinsella The Hunt and Other Poems [43]
1999 R. A. Simpson The Impossible, and Other Poems [44]
2000 Peter Minter Empty Texas [45]
2001 Rosemary Dobson Untold Lives and Later Poems [46]
2002 Robert Gray Afterimages [47]
2003 Laurie Duggan Mangroves [48]
2004 Luke Davies Totem [49]
2005 Dipti Saravanamuttu The Colosseum [50]
2006 Jennifer Maiden Friendly Fire [51]
2007 Robert Adamson The Goldfinches of Baghdad [52]
2008 J. S. Harry Not Finding Wittgenstein [53]
2009 Peter Porter Better Than God [54]
2010 Jennifer Maiden Pirate Rain [55]
2011 John Tranter Starlight: 150 Poems [56]
2012 Mal McKimmie The Brokenness Sonnets I-III And Other Poems [57]
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First Book

  • 2005: The Unknown Zone by Phil Smith[62]

References

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