“Wild Dark Shore” wins Book of the Year at 2026 Indie Book Awards
Australian independent booksellers have announced the winners of the 2026 Indie Book Awards, with Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore (Penguin) named Book of the Year.
The winners in each category are:
Book of the year
- Wild Dark Shore (Charlotte McConaghy, Penguin)
Fiction
- Wild Dark Shore (Charlotte McConaghy, Penguin)
Nonfiction
- Always Home, Always Homesick (Hannah Kent, Picador)
Debut fiction
- When Sleeping Women Wake (Emma Pei Yin, Hachette)
Illustrated nonfiction
- Wild by Design (Tim Pilgrim, Murdoch)
Children’s
- Silverborn (Jessica Townsend, Lothian)
Young adult
- Eleanor Jones Is Playing with Fire (Amy Doak, Penguin).
Presented by Leading Edge Retail, the Book of the Year is voted on by independent booksellers from the 6 category winners. Winners in each category were chosen from a shortlist announced in January.
Judge and bookseller Leisa Morton, from Paperbark Merchants in Albany (WA), said, “Wild Dark Shore was transportive. This is the perfect blend of literary fiction and thriller; filled with stunning lines exploring the emotions of the characters and philosophical thought about the future of humanity, paced expertly and threaded through with breath-catching tension. A truly remarkable novel takes something from the reader, and it nestles inside of them in return, and Wild Dark Shore has done this for me.”
Judge and bookseller Amy Lynch, from The Book Warehouse in Ballina (NSW), said, “Wild Dark Shore is a beautifully atmospheric and emotionally layered read that completely pulls you into its rugged, windswept setting … The characters feel raw and authentic, each carrying their own quiet burdens, and the tension builds in a way that feels both intimate and unsettling. It’s the kind of novel that moves slowly but deliberately, rewarding you with depth, mood, and powerful emotional moments.”
McConaghy said, “I want to take this moment to express my profound gratitude. [Independent booksellers] are a fundamental, crucial part of our arts industry, of our cultural identities, of the way we connect to ideas and stories, and to each other.”
Penguin Random House publisher Nikki Christer said, “It is a testament to the passion and support of our exceptional independent booksellers that Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore has found the readership that it has. Readers, authors and publishers owe the Indies so much.”
The awards “recognise and celebrate indie booksellers as the number one supporters of Australian authors”.
Leading Edge Retail said, “What makes indie booksellers uniquely placed to judge and recommend the best Aussie books of the past year is their incredible passion and knowledge, their contribution to the cultural diversity of the Australian reading public by recommending beyond the big brands, and above all, their love of quality writing.”
More information is available on the Indie Book Awards website.
Category: Awards Local news
