Indie Book Awards 2026 shortlists announced
The shortlists for the 2026 Indie Book Awards have been announced.
Chosen from the longlist announced in December, the shortlisted titles in each category are:
Fiction
- Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)
- Tenderfoot (Toni Jordan, Hachette)
- Wild Dark Shore (Charlotte McConaghy, Penguin)
- One Hundred Years of Betty (Debra Oswald, A&U)
Nonfiction
- Memorial Days (Geraldine Brooks, Hachette)
- The Mushroom Tapes (Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper & Sarah Krasnostein, Text)
- Always Home, Always Homesick (Hannah Kent, Picador)
- A Bunker in Kyiv (John Lyons, ABC Books)
Debut fiction
- The Butterfly Women (Madeleine Cleary, Affirm)
- Daughters of Batavia (Stefanie Koens, HarperCollins)
- Melaleuca (Angie Faye Martin, HQ Fiction)
- When Sleeping Women Wake (Emma Pei Yin, Hachette)
Illustrated nonfiction
- The ADHD Brain Buddy (Matilda Boseley, Penguin)
- Planting for Native Birds, Bees and Butterflies (Jaclyn Crupi, Murdoch Books)
- Wild by Design (Tim Pilgrim, Murdoch Books)
- THAI (Nat Thaipun, Hardie Grant)
Children’s
- There’s a Prawn in Parliament House (Annabel Crabb, illus by First Dog on the Moon, A&U Children’s)
- Harry and Gran Bake a Cake (Fiona McIntosh, illus by Sara Acton, Puffin)
- Silverborn (Jessica Townsend, Lothian Children’s)
Young adult
- The Foal in the Wire (Robbie Coburn, Lothian Children’s)
- Eleanor Jones Is Playing with Fire (Amy Doak, Penguin)
- Drift (Pip Harry, Lothian Children’s)
- Wandering Wild (Lynette Noni, Penguin).
Leading Edge Retail head of books Leanne Kadareanu, facilitator of the awards, said, “The 2026 Indie Book Awards shortlist highlights the depth, creativity and diversity of Australian writing today. Selected by independent booksellers who champion Australian books every day, these standout titles represent the very best of Australian publishing this year.”
The winners of each category and the Overall Book of the Year winner will be announced at a virtual awards event on 23 March 2026.
More information is available on the Indie Book Awards website.
Category: Awards Local news
