ABIA 2021 longlists announced

22 February 2021 Books+Publishing

The longlists for the 2021 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced.

The titles in each category are:

General fiction book of the year

The Bluffs (Kyle Perry, Michael Joseph)
The Dictionary of Lost Words (Pip Williams, Affirm)
The Godmothers (Monica McInerney, Michael Joseph)
The Good Turn (Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins)
The Morbids (Ewa Ramsey, A&U)
The Mother Fault (Kate Mildenhall, S&S)
The Survivors (Jane Harper, Macmillan)
Trust (Chris Hammer, A&U)

Literary fiction book of the year

A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing (Jessie Tu, A&U)
A Room Made of Leaves (Kate Grenville, Text)
All Our Shimmering Skies (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate)
Honeybee (Craig Silvey, A&U)
Infinite Splendours (Sofie Laguna, A&U)
Song of the Crocodile (Nardi Simpson, Hachette)
Sorrow and Bliss (Meg Mason, Fourth Estate)
The Last Migration (Charlotte McConaghy, Hamish Hamilton)

General nonfiction book of the year

Fire Country (Victor Steffensen, Hardie Grant Travel)
My Tidda, My Sister (Marlee Silva, illus by Rachael Sarra, Hardie Grant Travel)
One Day I’ll Remember This: Diaries 1987–1995 (Helen Garner, Text)
Phosphorescence (Julia Baird, Fourth Estate)
The Golden Maze (Richard Fidler, ABC Books)
The Space Between (Michelle Andrews & Zara McDonald, Viking)
Un-cook Yourself (Nat’s What I Reckon, Ebury)
Women and Leadership (Julia Gillard & Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Vintage)

Biography book of the year

A Bigger Picture (Malcolm Turnbull, Hardie Grant)
A Repurposed Life (Ronni Kahn with Jessica Chapnik Kahn, Murdoch Books)
Boy on Fire: The young Nick Cave (Mark Mordue, Fourth Estate)
Fourteen (Shannon Molloy, S&S)
Paul Kelly (Stuart Coupe, Hachette)
Soar: A life freed by dance (David McAllister with Amanda Dunn, Thames & Hudson)
The Happiest Man on Earth (Eddie Jaku, Macmillan)
Truganini (Cassandra Pybus, A&U)

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

Aurora Burning: The Aurora Cycle 2 (Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff, A&U)
Future Girl (Asphyxia, A&U)
Jane Doe and the Key of All Souls (Jeremy Lachlan, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
Please Don’t Hug Me (Kay Kerr, Text)
The End of the World is Bigger than Love (Davina Bell, Text)
The F Team (Rawah Arja, Giramondo)
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Garth Nix, A&U)
This One is Ours (Kate O’Donnell, UQP)

Book of the year for younger children (ages 7–12)

Finding Our Heart (Thomas Mayor, illus by Blak Douglas, Hardie Grant Travel)
Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow (Jessica Townsend, Lothian)
The Grandest Bookshop in the World (Amelia Mellor, Affirm)
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals (Sami Bayly, Lothian)
The Year the Maps Changed (Danielle Binks, Lothian)
Took The Children Away (Archie Roach, illus by Ruby Hunter, S&S)
We Are Wolves (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
When Rain Turns to Snow (Jane Godwin, Lothian).

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

Aunty’s Wedding (Miranda Tapsell, Joshua Tyler and Samantha Fry, A&U)
Bluey: The Creek (Puffin)
Our Home, Our Heartbeat (Adam Briggs, Kate Moon & Rachael Sarra, Little Hare)
Respect (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala)
Sing Me the Summer (Jane Godwin & Alison Lester, Affirm)
The Fire Wombat (Jackie French & Danny Snell, HarperCollins)
When We Say Black Lives Matter (Maxine Beneba Clarke, Lothian)
Windows (Jonathan Bentley & Patrick Guest, Little Hare)

Illustrated book of the year

A Year of Simple Family Food (Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Plum)
Beatrix Bakes (Natalie Paull, Hardie Grant)
In Praise of Veg (Alice Zaslavsky, Murdoch Books)
Loving Country (Bruce Pascoe & Vicky Shukuroglou, Hardie Grant Travel)
Places We Swim Sydney (Caroline Clements & Dillon Seitchik-Reardon, Hardie Grant Travel)
Plantopedia (Lauren Camilleri & Sophia Kaplan, Smith Street Books)
Sam Bloom: Heartache & Birdsong (Samantha Bloom, Cameron Bloom & Bradley Trevor Greive, ABC Books)
To Asia, With Love (Hetty McKinnon, Plum)

International book of the year

A Life On Our Planet (David Attenborough, Ebury)
A Promised Land (Barack Obama, Viking)
Greenlights (Matthew McConaughey, Headline)
Ottolenghi Flavour (Yotam Ottolenghi & Ixta Belfrage, Ebury)
Shuggie Bain (Douglas Stuart, Picador)
Such a Fun Age (Kiley Reid, Bloomsbury)
The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennett, Dialogue Books)
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty (Florence Given, Cassell)

Small publishers’ adult book of the year

Glimpses of Utopia: Real ideas for a fairer world (Jess Scully, Pantera)
Living on Stolen Land (Ambelin Kwaymullina, Magabala)
Stone Sky Gold Mountain (Mirandi Riwoe, UQP)
The Animals in That Country (Laura Jean McKay, Scribe)
The Rain Heron (Robbie Arnott, Text)
What Is To Be Done (Barry Jones, Scribe)
Where the Fruit Falls (Karen Wyld, UWA Publishing)
Yornadaiyn Woolagoodja (Yornadaiyn Woolagoodja, Magabala)

Small publishers’ children’s book of the year

Anemone is not the Enemy (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
Bindi (Kirli Saunders, illus by Dub Leffler, Magabala)
Claudette (Helene Magisson, Red Paper Kite)
Family (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Jasmine Seymour, Magabala)
Found (Bruce Pascoe & Charmaine Ledden-Lewis, Magabala)
Howl (Kat Patrick, illus by Evie Barrow, Scribble)
Metal Fish, Falling Snow (Cath Moore, Text)
My Shadow is Pink (Scott Stuart, Larrikin House)

The Matt Richell award for new writer of the year

A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing (Jessie Tu, A&U)
Lucky’s (Andrew Pippos, Picador)
My Tidda, My Sister (Marlee Silva, illus by Rachael Sarra, Hardie Grant Travel)
Song of the Crocodile (Nardi Simpson, Hachette)
The Coconut Children (Vivian Pham, Vintage)
The Grandest Bookshop in the World (Amelia Mellor, Affirm)
The Happiest Man on Earth (Eddie Jaku, Macmillan)
The Morbids (Ewa Ramsey, A&U).

The ABIA longlists were selected by the ABIA Academy, which comprises more than 250 industry representatives, with the shortlists to be announced on 12 April. The winners of the Lloyd O’Neill Hall of Fame Award and the Pixie O’Harris Award for consistent contribution to children’s literature will be announced on 19 April, along with the shortlist for the Rising Star Award.

The winners in each category will be announced at a gala event in Sydney on 28 April. For more information about the awards, see the ABIA website.

Category: Awards Local news