ABIA 2018 longlists announced

The longlists for the 2018 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced.

The titles in each category are:

General fiction book of the year

• Force of Nature (Jane Harper, Macmillan)
• On the Java Ridge (Jock Serong, Text)
• The Dark Lake (Sarah Bailey, A&U)
• The Girl from Munich (Tania Blanchard, S&S)
• The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club (Sophie Green, Hachette)
• The Secrets She Keeps (Michael Robotham, Hachette)
• The Tea Gardens (Fiona McIntosh, Michael Joseph)
• The Trip of a Lifetime (Monica McInerney, Michael Joseph)

Literary fiction book of the year

• A Long Way Home (Peter Carey, Hamish Hamilton)
• Australia Day (Melanie Cheng, Text)
• First Person (Richard Flanagan, Knopf)
• See What I Have Done (Sarah Schmidt, Hachette)
• Taboo (Kim Scott, Picador)
• The Choke (Sofie Laguna, A&U)
• The Life to Come (Michelle de Kretser, A&U)
• Wimmera (Mark Brandi, Hachette)

General nonfiction book of the year

• Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness (Kate Cole-Adams, Text)
• Being 14 (Madonna King, Hachette)
• Depends What You Mean By Extremist (John Safran, Hamish Hamilton)
• First, We Make The Beast Beautiful (Sarah Wilson, Macmillan)
• Not Just Lucky (Jamila Rizvi, Viking)
• Saga Land (Richard Fidler & Kári Gíslason, ABC Books)
• Taming Toxic People (David Gillespie, Macmillan)
• The Harbour: A City’s Heart, A Country’s Soul (Scott Bevan, S&S)
• The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster (Sarah Krasnostein, Text)

Biography book of the year

• A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work (Bernadette Brennan, Text)
• Danger Music (Eddie Ayres, A&U)
• The Enigmatic Mr Deakin (Judith Brett, Text)
• Tracker (Alexis Wright, Giramondo)
• Unbreakable (Jelena Dokic & Jess Halloran, Ebury)
• Unmasked (Turia Pitt, Ebury)
• Wednesdays with Bob (Derek Rielly & Bob Hawke, Macmillan)
• Working Class Man (Jimmy Barnes, HarperCollins)

Book of the year for older children (ages 13+)

• Beautiful Mess (Claire Christian, Text)
• Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology (ed by Danielle Binks, HarperCollins)
• Frogkisser! (Garth Nix, A&U)
• My Life as a Hashtag (Gabrielle Williams, A&U)
• Take Three Girls (Simmone Howell, Cath Crowley & Fiona Wood, Pan)
• Tales From a Tall Forest (Shaun Micallef, illus by Jonathan Bentley, Hardie Grant Egmont)
• The Silent Invasion (James Bradley, Pan)
• Untidy Towns, (Kate O’Donnell, UQP)

Book of the year for younger children (ages 7-13)

• Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase (Peter Helliar, illus by Lesley Vamos, Hardie Grant Egmont)
• Funny Kid for President (Matt Stanton, ABC Books)
• Maybe (Morris Gleitzman, Viking)
• Nevermoor (Jessica Townsend, Lothian)
• Polly and Buster: The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster (Sally Rippin, Hardie Grant Egmont)
• The Bad Guys Episode 6 (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic)
• The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone (Jaclyn Moriarty, A&U)
• The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Rome (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
• The 91-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton, Pan)

Children’s picture book of the year (ages 0-6)

• Do Not Lick This Book (Idan Ben-Barak, illus by Julian Frost, A&U)
• Florette (Anna Walker, Viking)
• I Just Ate My Friend (Heidi McKinnon, A&U)
• I’m Australian Too (Mem Fox, illus by Ronojoy Ghosh, Scholastic)
• Mopoke (Philip Bunting, Scholastic)
• Pig the Star (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic)
• No One Likes a Fart (Zoë Foster Blake, Viking)
• The Bum Book (Kate Mayes, illus by Andrew Joyner, ABC Books)
• The Very Noisy Baby (Alison Lester, Affirm)

Illustrated book of the year

• Basics to Brilliance Kids (Donna Hay, Fourth Estate)
• Cornersmith: Salads and Pickles (Alex Elliott-Howery & Sabine Spindler, Murdoch Books)
• Hummus and Co (Michael Rantissi & Kristy Frawley, Murdoch Books)
• Maggie’s Recipe for Life (Maggie Beer & Professor Ralph Martins, S&S)
• Native: Art and Design with Australian Plants (Kate Herd & Jela Ivankovic-Waters, Thames & Hudson)
• Ostro (Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Plum)
• Paris: Through a Fashion Eye (Megan Hess, Hardie Grant Books)
• The Vegetable (Caroline Griffiths & Vicki Valsamis, Smith Street Books)

International book of the year

• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman, HarperCollins)
• Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls (Elena Favilli & Francesa Cavallo, Particular Books)
• Here We Are: Notes For Living On Planet Earth (Oliver Jeffers, HarperCollins)
• Home Fire (Kamila Shamsie, Bloomsbury Circus)
• La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One (Philip Pullman, David Fickling Books)
• Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders, Bloomsbury)
• Mythos (Stephen Fry, Michael Joseph)
• The Sun and her Flowers (Rupi Kaur, S&S)

Small publishers’ adult book of the year

• Atlantic Black (A S Patric, Transit Lounge)
• Call of the Reed Warbler – A New Agriculture – A New Earth (Charles Massy, UQP)
• Cardinal (Louise Milligan, MUP)
• Journeys into the Wild: The Photography of Peter Dombrovskis (introduction & commentary by Bob Brown, NLA Publishing)
• The Australian Bird Guide (Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack & Kim Franklin, CSIRO Publishing)
• The Restorer (Michael Sala, Text)
• Museum of Words (Georgia Blain, Scribe)
• Mirror Sydney (Vanessa Berry, Giramondo)

Small publishers’ children’s book of the year

• At the Beach I See (Kamsani Bin Salleh, Magabala)
• At the Zoo I See (Joshua Button & Robyn Wells, Magabala)
• Big Fella Rain (Beryl Webber, illus by Fern Martins, Magabala)
• Hello, Melbourne! (Megan McKean, Thames & Hudson)
• It’s OK to Feel the Way You Do (Josh Langley, Big Sky Publishing)
• The Elephant (Peter Carnavas, UQP)
• Slow Down, World (Tai Snaith, Thames & Hudson)
• Under the Love Umbrella (Davina Bell & Allison Colpoys, Scribble)

The Matt Richell award for new writer of the year

• Australia Day (Melanie Cheng, Text)
• Nevermoor (Jessica Townsend, Lothian)
• See What I Have Done (Sarah Schmidt, Hachette)
• Terra Nullius (Claire G Coleman, Hachette)
• The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club (Sophie Green, Hachette)
• The Girl from Munich (Tania Blanchard, S&S)
• The Last Man in Europe: A Novel (Dennis Glover, Black Inc.)
• The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster (Sarah Krasnostein, Text)
• Wimmera (Mark Brandi, Hachette)

The longlist was voted on by the ABIA Academy, which, after a recent recruitment campaign, is the biggest in ABIA history, comprising more than 250 members. A panel of industry experts will select the shortlists, which will be announced on 19 April. The winners will be announced on 3 May at a ceremony at the Sydney International Convention Centre.

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

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