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ABIA 2017 shortlists announced

1 May 2017   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

The shortlists for the 2017 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced.

The titles in each category are:

General fiction book of the year

  • The Birdman’s Wife (Melissa Ashley, Affirm)
  • The Chocolate Tin (Fiona McIntosh, Michael Joseph)
  • The Dry (Jane Harper, Macmillan)
  • The One Who Got Away (Caroline Overington, HarperCollins)
  • Truly Madly Guilty (Liane Moriarty, Macmillan)

Literary fiction book of the year

  • An Isolated Incident (Emily Maguire, Picador)
  • Between a Wolf and a Dog (Georgia Blain, Scribe)
  • Goodwood (Holly Throsby, A&U)
  • The Good People (Hannah Kent, Picador)
  • The Last Painting of Sara de Vos (Dominic Smith, A&U)

General nonfiction book of the year

  • Fight Like a Girl (Clementine Ford, A&U)
  • Girl Stuff 8-12 (Kaz Cooke, Viking)
  • Talking To My Country (Stan Grant, HarperCollins)
  • The Barefoot Investor (Scott Pape, Wrightbooks)
  • The Road to Ruin: How Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin Destroyed their own Government, (Niki Savva, Scribe)

Biography of the year

  • Life As I Know It (Michelle Payne & John Harms, MUP)
  • Songs of a War Boy (Deng Adut, Hachette)
  • The Hate Race (Maxine Beneba Clarke, Hachette)
  • Victoria (Julia Baird, HarperCollins)
  • Working Class Boy (Jimmy Barnes, HarperCollins)

Book of the year older children (8 to 14 years)

  • Artie and the Grime Wave (Richard Roxburgh, A&U)
  • The Bone Sparrow (Zana Fraillon, Lothian)
  • WeirDo #7: Mega Weird! (Anh Do & Jules Faber, Scholastic)
  • Words in Deep Blue (Cath Crowley, Pan)
  • Wormwood Mire: A Stella Montgomery Intrigue (Judith Rossell, ABC Books)

Book of the year for younger children (0 to 8 years)

  • Charlie and the War Against the Grannies (Alan Brough, Pan)
  • Circle (Jeannie Baker, Walker Books)
  • Mr Chicken Arriva a Roma (Leigh Hobbs, A&U)
  • The 78-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths, illus by Terry Denton, Pan)
  • What Do They Do with All the Poo from All the Animals at the Zoo? (Anh Do & Laura Wood, Scholastic)

Illustrated book of the year

  • Basics to Brilliance (Donna Hay, HarperCollins)
  • New York (Megan Hess, Hardie Grant Books)
  • Penguin Bloom: The Odd Little Bird Who Saved a Family (Cameron Bloom & Bradley Trevor Greive, ABC Books)
  • Smith & Daughters: A Cookbook (Shannon Matinez & Mo Wyse, Hardie Grant)
  • The Bikini Body 28-Day Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Guide (Kayla Itsines, Macmillan)

International Book of the Year

  • Commonwealth (Ann Patchett, Bloomsbury)
  • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (J K Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne, Little Brown)
  • The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet (Michael Mosley, S&S)
  • The Hidden Life of Trees (Peter Wohlleben, Black Inc.)
  • The North Water (Ian McGuire, Scribner)

Matt Richell Award for new writer of the year

  • Fight Like a Girl (Clementine Ford, A&U)
  • Goodwood (Holly Throsby, A&U)
  • Music and Freedom (Zoë Morrison, Vintage)
  • The Dry (Jane Harper, Macmillan)
  • The Midnight Watch (David Dyer, Hamish Hamilton)

Small publishers’ adult book of the year

  • Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus and Nauru (Madeline Gleeson, NewSouth)
  • Position Doubtful: Mapping Landscapes and Memories (Kim Mahood, Scribe)
  • Poum and Alexandre (Catherine de Saint Phalle, Transit Lounge)
  • Saltwater (Cathy McLennan, UQP)
  • The Australian Native Bee Book (Tim Heard, Sugarbag Bees)

Small publishers’ children’s book of the year

  • Crabbing with Dad (Paul Seden, Magabala)
  • Even Mummy Cries (Naomi Hunter & Karen Erasmus, Empowering Resources)
  • My Sister is a Superhero (Damon Young & Peter Carnavas, UQP)
  • Steve Goes to Carnival (Joshua Button & Robyn Wells, Magabala)
  • The Secrets We Keep (Nova Weetman, UQP).

For the first time, an ABIA for best audiobook will be presented. The shortlisted audiobook titles are:

  • Fight Like a Girl (Clementine Ford, Audible)
  •  Make It Happen: Live Your Best Life (Michelle Bridges, Audible)
  •  The 78-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, Bolinda)
  • The Good People (Hannah Kent, Bolinda)
  •  True Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia (David Hunt, Audible)

The winners will be announced on 25 May at a ceremony at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney.

The ABIAs celebrate the ‘best books of the year, well published’. For more information, visit the ABIA website here.

 

Category: Local news