ABIA 2026 book award shortlists announced

Books+Publishing, in partnership with the Australian Publishers Association, has announced the 2026 book award shortlists for the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs).

The shortlisted titles in each category are:

Audiobook of the Year

• Gravity Let Me Go (Trent Dalton, narrated by Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate)
• How They Get You (Chris Kohler, narrated by Chris Kohler, PRH Aus Audio, produced by Sound Kitchen)
• Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, narrated by Hannah Fredericksen & Jenny Seedsman, Macmillan Audio)
• The Mushroom Tapes (Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper & Sarah Krasnostein, narrated by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, Sarah Krasnostein & Caroline Craig, PRH Aus Audio, produced by Sound Kitchen)
• The Unquiet Grave (Dervla McTiernan, narrated by Aoife McMahon, HarperCollins)
• Unstuck (Emily Musgrove, narrated by Emily Musgrove, PRH Aus Audio, produced by Sound Kitchen)

Biography Book of the Year

• Always Home, Always Homesick (Hannah Kent, Picador)
• Average at Best (Astrid Jorgensen, S&S)
• Destination Moon (Kate Reid, S&S)
• Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath (S Shakthidharan, Powerhouse)
• Guts (Melissa Leong, Murdoch Books)
• Memorial Days (Geraldine Brooks, Hachette)

Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)

• Cruel Is the Light (Sophie Clark, Penguin)
• A Murder Is Going Down (Kate Emery, A&U Children’s)
• Sonny & Tess (Nova Weetman, UQP)
• This Dream Will Devour Us (Emma Clancey, A&U Children’s)
• This Stays Between Us (Margot McGovern, Penguin)
• Wandering Wild (Lynette Noni, Penguin)

Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7–12)

• Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles (Corey Tutt, illus by Ben Williams, A&U Children’s)
• Inked (Karen Wasson, illus by Jake A Minton, Figment)
• Mega Rich Guinea Pigs (Kate & Jol Temple, HarperCollins)
• Spirit of the Crocodile (Aaron Fa’Aoso & Michelle Scott Tucker with Lyn White, A&U Children’s)
• There’s a Prawn in Parliament House: The Kids’ Guide to Australia’s Amazing Democracy (Annabel Crabb, illus by First Dog on the Moon, A&U Children’s)
• The Wicked Ship (Oceanforged #1) (Amelia Mellor, Affirm)

Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0–6)

• Dropbear (Philip Bunting, Walker Books)
• Here Come the Cousins (Maggie Hutchings, illus by Sarah Zweck, Thames & Hudson)
• How to Help When You Really Want to Help (Davina Bell & Hilary Jean Tapper, Lothian Children’s)
• Once I Was a Giant (Zeno Sworder, Thames & Hudson)
• The Train at the End of My Street (Tom Jellett, Affirm)
• Where Would You Go? (Alison Lester & Jane Godwin, A&U Children’s)

General Fiction Book of the Year

• The Detective (Matthew Reilly, Macmillan)
• Last One Out (Jane Harper, Macmillan)
• Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)
• One Hundred Years of Betty (Debra Oswald, A&U)
• The Unquiet Grave (Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins)
• The Wolf Tree (Laura McCluskey, HarperCollins)

General Nonfiction Book of the Year

• The Australian Wars (edited by Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray & Henry Reynolds, A&U)
• Broken Brains (Jamila Rizvi & Rosie Waterland, Penguin)
• Conspiracy Nation (Ariel Bogle & Cam Wilson, Ultimo Press)
• The Mushroom Tapes (Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper & Sarah Krasnostein, Text)
• The Power of Choice (Neale Daniher, Macmillan)
• She Shapes History (Sita Sargeant, HG Explore)

Illustrated Book of the Year

• The Art of Kaylene Whiskey: Do You Believe in Love? (edited by Natalie King & Iwantja Arts, Thames & Hudson)
• Baking and the Meaning of Life (Helen Goh, Murdoch Books)
• Planting for Native Birds, Bees and Butterflies (Jaclyn Crupi, illus by Claire Mosley, Murdoch Books)
• THAI (Nat Thaipun, Hardie Grant)
• Wild by Design (Tim Pilgrim, Murdoch Books)
• A Woman’s Eye, Her Art (Drusilla Modjeska, Penguin)

International Book of the Year

• Alchemised (SenLinYu, Michael Joseph)
• A Different Kind of Power (Jacinda Ardern, Penguin)
• Heart the Lover (Lily King, Canongate)
• Nobody’s Girl (Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Doubleday)
• Onyx Storm (Rebecca Yarros, Piatkus)
• Perfection (Vincenzo Latronico, Text)

Literary Fiction Book of the Year

• Chosen Family (Madeleine Gray, Summit)
• Eros (Zoe Terakes, Hachette)
• I Want Everything (Dominic Amerena, Summit)
• Pissants (Brandon Jack, Summit)
• Tenderfoot (Toni Jordan, Hachette)
• Wild Dark Shore (Charlotte McConaghy, Penguin)

Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year

• Ankami (Debra Dank, Echo)
• Defiance: Stories from Nature and Its Defenders (Bob Brown, Black Inc.)
• Nock Loose (Patrick Marlborough, Fremantle Press)
• The Rot (Evelyn Araluen, UQP)
• A Savage Turn (Luke Patterson, Magabala)
• Unsettled: A Journey Through Time and Place (Kate Grenville, Black Inc.)

Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year

• Between (Anna Walker, Scribble)
• The First Sunrise (Vanessa Stevens, illus by Paul Seden, Magabala)
• Hello Cocky (Hilary Bell, illus by Antonia Pesenti, Scribble)
• Little Bones (Sandy Bigna, UQP)
• Ningaloo (Tim Winton, illus by Cindy Lane, Fremantle Press)
• Sundays Under the Lemon Tree (Julia Busuttil Nishimura, illus by Myo Yim, Scribble)

Social Impact Book of the Year

• The Australian Wars (edited by Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray & Henry Reynolds, A&U)
• Eros (Zoe Terakes, Hachette)
• Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath (S Shakthidharan, Powerhouse)
• A Piece of Red Cloth (Leonie Norrington, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Djawa Burarrwanga & Djawundil Maymuru, A&U)
• The Power of Choice (Neale Daniher, Macmillan)
• The Power of Choice (Julian Kingma, NewSouth)

The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year (for an author’s first book, regardless of genre)

• Eros (Zoe Terakes, Hachette)
• The Heir Apparent (Rebecca Armitage, HarperCollins)
• I Want Everything (Dominic Amerena, Summit)
• Melaleuca (Angie Faye Martin, HQ Fiction)
• Very Impressive for Your Age (Eleanor Kirk, A&U)
• Wait Here (Lucy Nelson, Summit).

The winners in each category, including the overall Book of the Year, will be announced at the awards ceremony at Linseed House at The Grounds of Alexandria in Warrane/Sydney on Thursday 21 May. Early bird tickets to the ceremony are available until 21 April.

The ABIA shortlists for the business and retailer awards will be announced on 15 April along with the Hall of Fame recipients.

More information about the awards is available on the ABIA website.

Category: Local news