The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards highlight the importance of literacy and distinguished achievement by Australian writers. The shortlists for the 2019 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced. You can also vote for the People’s Choice Award now.
The shortlisted titles in each category are:
Book of the Year winner
Deep time dreaming (Billy Griffiths, Black Inc.)
Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
Man Out of Time (Stephanie Bishop, Hachette)
Boy Swallows Universe (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate)
The Life to Come (Michelle De Kretser, A&U) – Winner
The Everlasting Sunday (Robert Lukins, UQP)
Border Districts (Gerald Murnane, Giramondo)
The Shepherd’s Hut (Tim Winton, Hamish Hamilton)
Douglas Stewart Prize for Nonfiction
Saga Land (Richard Fidler & Kári Gíslason, HarperCollins)
Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia (Billy Griffiths, Black Inc.) – joint winner
The Trauma Cleaner (Sarah Krasnostein, Text) – joint winner
The Erratics (Vicki Laveau-Harvie, Finch Publishing)
Axiomatic (Maria Tumarkin, Brow Books)
Tracker (Alexis Wright, Giramondo)
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
Interval (Judith Bishop, UQP) – Winner
I Love Poetry (Michael Farrell, Giramondo Publishing)
Things I’ve Thought To Tell You Since I Saw You Last (Penelope Layland, Recent Work Press)
Wildlife of Berlin (Philip Neilsen, UWA Publishing)
Blindside (Mark Reid, Puncher and Wattmann)
Rondo (Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Carcanet Press)
Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature
Shine Mountain (Julie Hunt, A&U)
Maya and Cat (Caroline Magerl, Walker)
Leave Taking (Lorraine Marwood, UQP) – joint winner
Dingo (Claire Saxby & Tannya Harricks, Walker) – joint winner
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Jessica Townsend, Lothian)
The Dog with Seven Names (Dianne Wolfer, Penguin)
Ethel Turner Prize for Young Adult’s Literature
Between Us (Clare Atkins, Black Inc.)
Small Spaces (Sarah Epstein, Walker)
I Am Out With Lanterns (Emily Gale, Random House Children’s)
Amelia Westlake (Erin Gough, Hardie Grant Egmont) – winner
Stone Girl (Eleni Hale, Penguin)
The Art of Taxidermy (Sharon Kernot, Text)
Multicultural NSW Award
The Lebs (Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Hachette) – winner
Rainforest (Eileen Chong, Pitt Street Poetry)
Home Is Nearby (Magdalena McGuire, Impress Books)
Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home (Sisonke Msimang, Text)
Too Much Lip (Melissa Lucashenko, UQP)
Miss Ex-Yugoslavia (Sofija Stefanovic, Viking)
NSW Premier’s Prize for Translation
Harry Aveling
Stephen Corcoran
Alison Entrekin – winner
Penny Hueston
Stephanie Smee
Omid Tofighian(Highly Commended)
UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing
Flames (Robbie Arnott, Text)
Boy Swallows Universe (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate) – winner
Scrublands (Chris Hammer, A&U)
The Everlasting Sunday (Robert Lukins, UQP)
Pink Mountain on Locust Island (Jamie Marina Lau, Brow Books)
The Lucky Galah (Tracy Sorensen, Picador)
Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting
The Almighty Sometimes (Kendall Feaver, Currency Press) – winner
Oil Babies (Petra Kalive, Lab Kelpie)
Going Down (Michele Lee, Malthouse Theatre)
Lost Boys (Lachlan Philpott, Merrigong Theatre Company)
The Long Forgotten Dream (H Lawrence Sumner, Sydney Theatre Company)
Barbara and the Camp Dogs (Ursula Yovich & Alana Valentine, Belvoir Theatre)
Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting
Picnic at Hanging Rock, Episode 4 (Alice Addison, FremantleMedia Australia)
Jirga (Benjamin Gilmour)- winner
Seoul City Sue (Noëlle Janaczewska, ABC Radio National)
Mystery Road, Episode 5 ‘The Waterhole’ (Timothy Lee, Bunya Productions)
Mystery Road, Episode 1 ‘Gone’ (Michaeley O’Brien, Bunya Productions)
Riot (Greg Waters, Werner Film Production)
People’s Choice Award Winner
Boy Swallows Universe (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate)