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Queensland Literary Awards 2026 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 29 July 2026   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

The shortlists for the 2026 Queensland Literary Awards have been announced.

The shortlisted titles in each category are:

Queensland Premier’s Award for Work of State Significance ($30,000)

  • Terraglossia (Debra Dank, Echo Publishing)
  • Not Quite White in the Head (Melissa Lucashenko, University of Queensland Press)
  • Looking from the North (Henry Reynolds, NewSouth Books)
  • Quentin Bryce (Juliet Rieden, Penguin Australia)
  • The Pearl of Tagai Town (Lenora Thaker, Text Publishing).

Nonfiction Book Award ($15,000)

  • Terraglossia (Debra Dank, Echo Publishing)
  • Brave New Wild (Richard King, Monash University Publishing)
  • Find Me at the Jaffa Gate (Micaela Sahhar, NewSouth Books)
  • Fourteen Ways of Looking (Erin Vincent, Upswell Publishing)
  • The Red House (Kate Wild, Allen & Unwin).

Fiction Book Award ($15,000)

  • Department of the Vanishing (Johanna Bell, Transit Lounge)
  • Arborescence (Rhett Davis, Hachette Australia)
  • The Name of the Sister (Gail Jones, Text Publishing)
  • On Not Climbing Mountains (Claire Thomas, Hachette Australia)
  • In A Common Hour (Sita Walker, Ultimo Press).

Young Adult Book Award ($15,000)

  • Once Upon Tomorrow (Karen Comer, Lothian Children’s Books)
  • This Season’s Draft (Jason Gent, A&U Children’s)
  • Good Young Men (Gary Lonesborough, A&U Children’s)
  • The Belly of a Wolf (Julianne Negri, UWA Publishing)
  • Tearing Myself Together (Anna Whateley, A&U Children’s)

Children’s Book Award ($15,000)

  • One Koala, One Hundred Trees (Leesa Allinson, Heather Potter & Mark Jackson, Wild Dog)
  • Myra in the Middle (Seetha Dodd & Peter Cheong, University of Queensland Press)
  • The Midlands (Kate Gordon, Riveted Press)
  • Once I Was a Giant (Zeno Sworder, Thames & Hudson Australia)
  • Ruby’s Web (Ellen van Neerven, Magabala Books).

Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection ($17,500)

  • KONTRA (Eunice Andrada, Giramondo Publishing)
  • Leaves Fall Off to Create Drama (Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle, Giramondo Publishing)
  • Shark of Messina (Liam Ferney, Hunter Publishing)
  • Jack Mundey in Red Square (James Lucas, Recent Work Press)
  • A Savage Turn (Luke Patterson, Magabala Books).

Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection (Biennial Award) ($15,000)

  • Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere (Alex Cothren, Pink Shorts Press)
  • U Want It Darker (Murray Middleton, Picador Australia)
  • Wait Here (Lucy Nelson, Summit Books)
  • Mother Salad (Helena Pantsis, UWA Publishing).

Lord Mayor of Brisbane’s People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award ($15,000)

  • People Powered Radio (Heather Anderson, Palgrave Macmillan)
  • Rise and Shine (Kimberley Allsopp, HarperCollins)
  • The Secret Year of Zara Holt (Kimberley Freeman, Hachette Australia)
  • Honeyeater (Kathleen Jennings, Picador Australia)
  • Average At Best (Astrid Jorgensen, Simon & Schuster)
  • Mary Penfold (Grantlee Kieza, ABC Books)
  • Two Islands (Ian Kemish, University of Queensland Press)
  • Melaleuca (Angie Faye Martin, HQ Fiction)
  • In a Common Hour (Sita Walker, Ultimo Press)
  • The Nocturnals (Frances Whiting, HarperCollins).

Development Awards

David Unaipon Award for an Emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Writer ($20,000, plus manuscript development and publication with UQP)

  • “The South Paddock” (Rick Slager)
  • “When the Circle Speaks” (Lukas Williams).

Manuscript Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer ($15,000, plus manuscript development and publication with UQP)

  • “Clean” (Jing Cram)
  • “The Passion Hunters” (Helen Crampton)
  • “Best Served Cold” (Sonya Gellert)
  • “Crew Cut” (Helen Kenny)
  • “The Cult” (Kate Mayne).

Queensland Premier’s Young Publisher and Writer Award ($15,000)

  • Emily Lighezzolo
  • Waverley Stanley Jr
  • Svetlana Sterlin
  • Grace Wilson.

Queensland Premier’s Regional Publisher and Writer Award ($15,000)

  • Ian McIntosh
  • Terry Phillips
  • Abi Stephenson.

Voting for the People’s Choice Award is now open. The winners will be announced at the Queensland Literary Awards ceremony on 8 October at Brisbane Powerhouse as part of the Brisbane Writers Festival.

As previously reported, the 2026 Queensland Literary Awards have moved away from State Library of Queensland to become part of the Brisbane Writers Festival, following changes by the Queensland Government after the release of the Doubney Review.

More information is available on the Queensland Literary Awards website.

 

Category: Awards Local news