This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2008.
See also 2008 in poetry
| Award | Author |
|---|---|
| Christopher Brennan Award | Not awarded |
| Patrick White Award [83] | John Romeril |
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Age Book of the Year [84] | Don Watson | American Journeys | Random House |
| ALS Gold Medal [85] | Michelle de Kretser | The Lost Dog | Allen & Unwin |
| Colin Roderick Award [86] | Malcolm Knox | Jamaica | Allen & Unwin |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [87] | Tim Winton | Breath | Hamish Hamilton |
| Nita Kibble Literary Award [88] | Carol Lefevre | Nights in the Asylum | Vintage |
| Award | Region | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize [89] | SE Asia and South Pacific | Best Novel | Steven Carroll | The Time We Have Taken | HarperCollins |
| Best First Novel | Karen Foxlee | The Anatomy of Wings | University of Queensland Press | ||
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davitt Award [102] | Novel | Katherine Howell | Frantic | Pan Macmillan |
| Young adult novel | Mandy Sayer | The Night Has a Thousand Eyes | Fourth Estate | |
| True crime | Janet Fife-Yeomans | Killing Jodie | Penguin | |
| Readers' Choice | Lindy Cameron | Scarlet Stiletto: The First Cut | Mira Books | |
| Ned Kelly Awards [103] | Novel | Michael Robotham | Shatter | Sphere Books |
| First novel | Chris Womersley | The Low Road | Scribe | |
| True crime | Evan McHugh | Red Centre, Dark Heart | Penguin | |
| Lifetime achievement | Marele Day | |||
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurealis Award | SF Novel | K. A. Bedford | Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait | Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing |
| SF Short Story | Simon Brown | "The Empire" | Dreaming Again, Voyager | |
| Fantasy Novel | Alison Goodman | The Two Pearls of Wisdom | HarperCollins | |
| Fantasy Short Story | Cat Sparks | "Sammarynda Deep" | Paper Cities, Senses 5 Press | |
| Horror Novel | John Harwood | The Seance | Random House | |
| Horror Short Story | Kirstyn McDermott | "Painlessness" | Greatest Uncommon Denominator #2 | |
| Ditmar Award | Novel | Sean Williams | Saturn Returns | Orbit Books |
| Novella/Novelette | Cat Sparks | "Lady of Adestan" | Orb #7 | |
| Short Story | Rick Kennett | "The Dark and What It Said" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #28 | |
| Collected Work | Jonathan Strahan ed. | The New Space Opera | HarperCollins | |
| Russell B. Farr ed. | Fantastic Wonder Stories | Ticonderoga Publications | ||
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [91] | John Tranter | Urban Myths: 210 Poems | University of Queensland Press |
| The Age Book of the Year [92] | J. S. Harry | Not Finding Wittgenstein | Giramondo Publishing |
| Anne Elder Award [104] | Sarah Holland-Batt | Aria | University of Queensland Press |
| Sandy Fitts | View from the Lucky Hotel | Five Islands Press | |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [105] | Alan Wearne | The Australian Popular Songbook | Giramondo Publishing |
| Mary Gilmore Prize [106] | Nathan Shepherdson | Sweeping the Light Back into the Mirror | University of Queensland Press |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [97] | Kathryn Lomer | Two Kinds of Silence | University of Queensland Press |
| Queensland Premier's Literary Awards [98] | David Malouf | Typewriter Music | University of Queensland Press |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award [99] | Lisa Gorton | Press Release | Giramondo Publishing |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards [100] | Bronwyn Lea | The Other Way Out | Giramondo Publishing |
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick White Playwrights' Award | Nicki Bloom | Bloodwood | |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [91] | Non-Fiction | Jacob Rosenberg | Sunrise West | Brandl and Schlesinger |
| The Age Book of the Year | Non-fiction | Don Watson | American Journeys | Random House |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Eve Pownall Award for Information Books | Frances Watts, illus David Legge | Parsley Rabbit's Book about Books | ABC Books |
| Davitt Award | True crime | Janet Fife-Yeomans | Killing Jodie | Penguin Books |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [87] | Non-Fiction | Don Watson | American Journeys | Random House |
| National Biography Award [107] | Biography | Philip Dwyer | Napoleon: The Path To Power 1769–1799 | Bloomsbury Publishing |
| Graham Seal | These Few Lines: A Convict Story – The Lost Lives of Myra & William Sykes | ABC Books | ||
| Prime Minister's Literary Awards | Non-fiction | Philip Jones | Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers | Wakefield Press |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [97] | Non-fiction | Tom Griffiths | Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica | University of New South Wales Press |
| New South Wales Premier's History Awards | Australian History | Paul Ham | Vietnam: The Australian War | HarperCollins |
| Community and Regional History | Dianne Johnson, in collaboration with the residents of the Gully and their descendants | Sacred Waters: the story of the Blue Mountains Gully Traditional Owners | Halstead Press | |
| General History | Michael A. McDonnell | The Politics of War: Race, Class and Conflict in Revolutionary Virginia | University of North Carolina Press | |
| Young People's | Robert Lewis and Tim Gurry | Australians in the Vietnam War | Ryebuck Media Pty Ltd | |
| Queensland Premier's Literary Awards [98] | Non-fiction | Craig Sherborne | Muck | Black Inc |
| History | Professor Marilyn Lake and Professor Henry Reynolds | Drawing the Global Colour Line | Melbourne University Press | |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award [99] | Non-fiction | Meredith Hooper | The Ferocious Summer: Palmer's Penguins and the Warming of Antarctica | Allen & Unwin |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Non-fiction | Antonio Buti | Sir Ronald Wilson: A Matter of Conscience | University of Western Australia Press |
| Western Australian history | Ruth Marchant James | Cottesloe: A Town of Distinction | Town of Cottesloe | |
Note: all references relating to awards can, or should be, found on the relevant award's page.