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Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2026 shortlists announced

Tuesday, 11 August 2026   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

Writing Australia has announced the shortlists for the 2026 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards.

The shortlisted titles in each category, chosen from 673 entries, are:

Children’s

  • Bored (Felicita Sala, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
  • Little Bones (Sandy Bigna, University of Queensland Press)
  • Rain on the Rock (Valerie Brumby, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
  • Song of a Thousand Seas (Zana Fraillon, University of Queensland Press)
  • The Wondrous Tale of Lavender Wolfe (Karen Foxlee, Allen & Unwin Children).

Young Adult

  • Blood Moon Bride (Demet Divaroren, Allen & Unwin Children)
  • Drift (Pip Harry, Lothian Children’s Books)
  • The Edge of Everything (Miranda Luby, Text Publishing)
  • The Foal in the Wire (Robbie Coburn, Lothian Children’s Books)
  • This Stays Between Us (Margot McGovern, Penguin).

Australian history

  • Fearless Beatrice Faust: Sex, Feminism and Body Politics (Judith Brett, Text Publishing)
  • First Tasmanians: A Deep History (Shayne Breen, Miegunyah Press)
  • Playtime: A History of Australian Childhood (Emily Gallagher, La Trobe University Press)
  • The Australian Wars (Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray & Henry Reynolds, Allen & Unwin)
  • The Southern Frontier (Rohan Howitt, Melbourne University Press).

Poetry

  • Ghost of Myself (John Kinsella, University of Queensland Press)
  • How to Emerge (Jill Jones, Vagabond Press)
  • KONTRA (Eunice Andrada, Giramondo)
  • The Rot (Evelyn Araluen, University of Queensland Press)
  • Two Hundred Million Musketeers (Ender Başkan, Giramondo).

Fiction

  • A Piece of Red Cloth (Leonie Norrington, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Djawa Burarrwanga & Djawundil Maymuru, Allen & Unwin)
  • Arborescence (Rhett Davis, Hachette)
  • In the Name of the Trees (Merlinda Bobis, Spinifex Press)
  • Out of the Woods (Gretchen Shirm, Transit Lounge)
  • The Immigrants: Fabula Mirabilis, or A Wonderful Story (Moreno Giovannoni, Black Inc.).

Nonfiction

  • Blue Poles: Jackson Pollock, Gough Whitlam and the Painting that Changed a Nation (Tom McIlroy, Hachette)
  • Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath (S Shakthidharan, Powerhouse Publishing)
  • Terraglossia (Debra Dank, Echo Publishing)
  • The Red House (Kate Wild, Allen & Unwin)
  • What Artists See (Quentin Sprague, Monash University Publishing).

Each shortlisted entry will receive $5,000, with the winner of each category receiving $80,000. The prize money for the award is tax-free.

Director of Writing Australia Wenona Byrne said, “The 2026 shortlists reflect the extraordinary breadth, ambition and quality of writing being produced across Australia. These works invite us into new ideas, experiences and perspectives, while demonstrating the enduring power of literature to deepen our understanding of ourselves and one another.

“We congratulate all of this year’s shortlisted writers and illustrators, and thank the judges for the care, expertise and generosity they have brought to the selection process.”

The winners will be announced on 10 September.

More information about the awards, shortlisted books and authors, and the 2026 judges is available on the Creative Australia website.

 

Category: Awards Local news