Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2025 winners announced
Writing Australia has announced the winners of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards.
Chosen from shortlists announced in August, the winners are:
Fiction
- Theory & Practice (Michelle de Kretser, Text)
Nonfiction
- Mean Streak (Rick Morton, Fourth Estate)
Australian history
- Critical Care: Nurses on the Frontline of Australia’s AIDS Crisis (Geraldine Fela, UNSW Press)
Poetry
- The Other Side of Daylight: New and Selected Poems (David Brooks, UQP)
Children’s literature
- Leo and Ralph (Peter Carnavas, UQP)
Young adult
- The Invocations (Krystal Sutherland, Penguin).
This year, 645 entries were received across the six award categories, an increase from the 533 submissions received in 2024.
Winners of each category receive a tax-free $80,000 in prize money, while each shortlisted author receives $5000.
Minister for the Arts Tony Burke said, ‘This year’s Prime Minister’s Literary Awards highlight the remarkable breadth of talent in Australian writing. From deeply researched histories to works of poetry and fiction that challenge and inspire, these winners remind us of the power of literature to shape how we see ourselves and our nation.
‘I congratulate all the authors recognised this evening for their extraordinary contribution to Australian culture.’
Writing Australia director Wenona Byrne said, ‘The 2025 winners reflect the richness and diversity of Australian storytelling. Each of these works brings a unique perspective, whether it is giving voice to critical moments in our history, sparking imagination in young readers, or offering new ways to think about the world around us.’
Established in 2008, the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards recognise ‘individual excellence and the contribution that Australian authors make to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life in the categories of nonfiction and fiction’.
Last year’s winning titles included Anam (André Dao, Hamish Hamilton); Close to the Subject: Selected Works (Daniel Browning, Magabala); Donald Horne: A Life in the Lucky Country (Ryan Cropp, La Trobe University Press); The Cyprian (Amy Crutchfield, Giramondo); We Could Be Something (Will Kostakis, A&U Children’s); and Tamarra: A Story of Termites on Gurindji Country (Violet Wadrill, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal, Leah Leaman, Cecelia Edwards, Cassandra Algy, Felicity Meakins, Briony Barr & Gregory Crocetti, HG Explore).
The awards were presented at a live-streamed event, hosted at the National Library of Australia in Canberra on Monday, 29 September.
More information about the winners is available on the Creative Australia website.
Category: Awards Local news
