ALS Gold Medal

The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." ^[1] From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the Australian Literature Society, then from 1983 by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, when the two organisations were merged.

Award winners

1920s

• 1928: Martin Mills (Martin Boyd) – The Montforts ^[2]
• 1929: Henry Handel Richardson – Ultima Thule ^[3]

1930s

• 1930: Vance Palmer – The Passage ^[4]
• 1931: Frank Dalby Davison – Man-Shy ^[5]
• 1932: Leonard Mann – Flesh in Armour ^[6]
• 1933: G. B. Lancaster (Edith J. Lyttleton) – Pageant ^[7]
• 1934: Eleanor Dark – Prelude to Christopher ^[8]
• 1935: Winifred Birkett – Earth's Quality ^[9]
• 1936: Eleanor Dark – Return to Coolami ^[10]
• 1937: Seaforth Mackenzie – The Young Desire It ^[11]
• 1938: R. D. FitzGerald – Moonlight Acre ^[12]
• 1939: Xavier Herbert – Capricornia ^[13]

1940s

• 1940: William Baylebridge – This Vital Flesh ^[14]
• 1941: Patrick White – Happy Valley ^[15]
• 1942: Kylie Tennant – The Battlers ^[16]
• 1948: Herz Bergner – Between Sky and Sea ^[17]
• 1949: Percival Serle – Dictionary of Australian Biography ^{[18] [19]}

1950s

• 1950: Jon Cleary – Just Let Me Be ^[20]
• 1951: Rex Ingamells – The Great South Land : An Epic Poem ^[21]
• 1952: T. A. G. Hungerford – The Ridge and the River  : A Novel ^[22]
• 1954: Mary Gilmore – Fourteen Men ^[23]
• 1955: Patrick White – The Tree of Man ^[24]
• 1957: Martin Boyd – A Difficult Young Man ^[25]
• 1959: Randolph Stow – To the Islands ^[26]

1960s

• 1960: William Hart-Smith – Poems of Discovery ^[27]
• 1961: No Award
• 1962: Vincent Buckley – Masters in Israel ^[28]
• 1963: John Morrison – Twenty-Three : Stories ^[29]
• 1964: Geoffrey Blainey – The Rush that Never Ended ^[30]
• 1965: Patrick White – The Burnt Ones ^[31]
• 1966: A. D. Hope

1970s

• 1970: Manning Clark
• 1971: Colin Badger
• 1972: Alex Buzo – Macquarie (play)
• 1973: Francis Webb
• 1974: David Malouf – Neighbours in a Thicket ^[32]
• 1975–79:No Award

1980s

• 1980: No Award
• 1981: No Award
• 1982: No Award
• 1983: David Malouf – Child's Play; Fly Away Peter ^[33]
• 1984: Les Murray – The People's Otherworld : Poems ^[33]
• 1985: David Ireland – Archimedes and the Seagle ^[33]
• 1986: Thea Astley – Beachmasters ^[33]
• 1987: Alan Wearne – The Nightmarkets ^[33]
• 1988: Brian Matthews – Louisa ^[33]
• 1989: Frank Moorhouse – Forty-Seventeen ^[33]

1990s

• 1990: Peter Porter – Possible Worlds ^[33]
• 1991: Elizabeth Jolley – Cabin Fever ^[33]
• 1992: Rodney Hall – The Second Bridegroom ^[33]
• 1993: Elizabeth Riddell – Selected Poems ^[33]
• 1994: Louis Nowra – Radiance and The Temple ^[33]
• 1995: Helen Demidenko – The Hand That Signed the Paper ^[33]
• 1996: Amanda Lohrey – Camille's Bread ^[33]
• 1997: Robert Dessaix – Night Letters ^[33]
• 1998: James Cowan – A Mapmaker's Dream ^[33]
• 1999: Murray Bail – Eucalyptus ^[33]

2000s

• 2000 : Drusilla Modjeska – Stravinsky's Lunch ^[33]
• 2001 : Rodney Hall – The Day We Had Hitler Home ^[33]
• 2002 : Richard Flanagan – Gould's Book of Fish ^[33]
• 2003 : Kate Jennings – Moral Hazard ^[33]
• 2004 : Laurie Duggan – Mangroves ^[33]
• 2005 : Gail Jones – Sixty Lights ^[33]
• 2006 : Gregory Day – The Patron Saint of Eels ^[33]
• 2007 : Alexis Wright – Carpentaria ^[33]
• 2008 : Michelle de Kretser – The Lost Dog ^[33]
• 2009 : Christos Tsiolkas – The Slap ^[33]

2010s

• 2010 : David Malouf – Ransom ^[33]
• 2011 : Kim Scott – That Deadman Dance ^[33]
• 2012 : Gillian Mears – Foal's Bread ^[33]
• 2013 : Michelle de Kretser – Questions of Travel ^[33]
• 2014 : Alexis Wright – The Swan Book ^[33]
• 2015 : Jennifer Maiden – Drones and Phantoms ^[33]
• 2016 : Brenda Niall – Mannix ^[34]
• 2017 : Zoe Morrison – Music and Freedom ^[35]
• 2018 : Shastra Deo – The Agonist ^[36]
• 2019 : Pam Brown – click here for what we do ^[37]

2020s

• 2020 : Charmaine Papertalk Green – Nganajungu Yagu ^[38]
• 2021 : Nardi Simpson – Song of the Crocodile ^[39]
• 2022 : Andy Jackson – Human Looking ^[40]
• 2023 : Debra Dank – We Come With This Place ^[41]
• 2024 : Alexis Wright – Praiseworthy ^[42]
• 2025 : Fiona McFarlane – Highway 13 ^[43]

Shortlisted works

Year	Author name	Work nominated	Result	Ref
2025	Fiona McFarlane	Highway 13	Winner	[43]
	Bonny Cassidy	Monument	Shortlisted	[1]
	Brian Castro	Chinese Postman
	Melanie Cheng	The Burrow
	Helen Garner	The Season
	Nam Le	36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem
	Siang Lu	Ghost Cities
2024	Alexis Wright	Praiseworthy	Winner	[42]
	Jordie Albiston	Frank	Shortlisted	[44]
	Stuart Barnes	Like to the Lark
	Katherine Brabon	Body Friend
	J. M. Coetzee	The Pole and Other Stories
	Omar Sakr	Non-Essential Work
	Sara M. Saleh	The Flirtation of Girls/Ghazal el-Banat
2023	Debra Dank	We Come With This Place	Winner	[45]
	Robbie Arnott	Limberlost	Shortlisted	[41]
	Fiona Kelly McGregor	Iris
	Gavin Yuan Gao	At the Altar of Touch
	Adam Ouston	Waypoints
	Charmaine Papertalk Green & John Kinsella	ART
2022	Andy Jackson	Human Looking	Winner	[40]
	Emily Bitto	Wild Abandon	Shortlisted	[46]
	John Kinsella	Pushing Back
	S. J. Norman	Permafrost
	Elfie Shiosaki	Homecoming
	Maria Takolander	Trigger Warning
2021	Nardi Simpson	Song of the Crocodile	Winner
	Robbie Arnott	The Rain Heron	Shortlisted	[47]
	Ronnie Scott	The Adversary
	Ellen van Neerven	Throat
	Luke Best	Cadaver Dog
	Laura Jean McKay	The Animals in That Country
2020	Charmaine Papertalk Green	Nganajungu Yagu	Winner	[48]
	Jordie Albiston	Element	Shortlisted	[49]
	Favel Parrett	There Was Still Love
	Carrie Tiffany	Exploded View
	Charlotte Wood	The Weekend
2019	Pam Brown	click here for what we do	Winner	[50]
	Luke Beesley	Aqua Spinach	Shortlisted	[51]
	Laura Elizabeth Woollett	Beautiful Revolutionary	Shortlisted	[51]
	Charmaine Papertalk Green & John Kinsella	False Claims of Colonial Thieves	Shortlisted	[51]
	Jamie Marina Lau	Pink Mountain on Locust Island	Shortlisted	[51]
	Gail Jones	The Death of Noah Glass	Shortlisted	[51]
2018	Shastra Deo	The Agonist	Winner	[52]
	Peter Carey	A Long Way from Home	Shortlisted	[52]
	Eva Hornung	The Last Garden	Shortlisted	[52]
	Sofie Laguna	The Choke	Shortlisted	[52]
	Steven Lang	Hinterland	Shortlisted	[52]
	Gerald Murnane	Border Districts	Shortlisted	[52]
2017	Zoe Morrison	Music and Freedom	Winner	[53]
	Steven Amsterdam	The Easy Way Out	Shortlisted	[54]
	Georgia Blain	Between a Wolf and a Dog	Shortlisted	[54]
	Peter Boyle	Ghostspeaking	Shortlisted	[54]
	Heather Rose	The Museum of Modern Love	Shortlisted	[54]
	Rajith Savanadasa	Ruins	Shortlisted	[54]
2016	Brenda Niall	Mannix	Winner	[55]
	James Bradley	Clade	Shortlisted	[55]
	Tegan Bennett Daylight	Six Bedrooms	Shortlisted	[55]
	Drusilla Modjeska	Second Half First	Shortlisted	[55]
2015	Jennifer Maiden	Drones and Phantoms	Winner	[56]
	Joan London	The Golden Age	Shortlisted	[56]
	David Malouf	Earth Hour	Shortlisted	[56]
	Favel Parrett	When the Night Comes	Shortlisted	[56]
	Inga Simpson	Nest	Shortlisted	[56]
2014	Alexis Wright	The Swan Book	Winner	[57]
	Eleanor Limprecht	What Was Left	Shortlisted	[57]
	Luke Carman	An Elegant Young Man	Shortlisted	[57]
	Hannah Kent	Burial Rites	Shortlisted	[57]
	Christos Tsiolkas	Barracuda	Shortlisted	[57]
	Alex Miller	Coal Creek	Shortlisted	[57]
2013	Michelle de Kretser	Questions of Travel	Winner	[58]
	Jessie Cole	Darkness on the Edge of Town	Shortlisted	[58]
	Robert Drewe	Montebello	Shortlisted	[58]
	Christopher Koch	Lost Voices	Shortlisted	[58]
	P. A. O’Reilly	The Fine Colour of Rust	Shortlisted	[58]
2012	Gillian Mears	Foal's Bread	Winner	[33]
	Steven Amsterdam	What the Family Needed	Shortlisted	[59]
	Christopher Edwards	People of Earth	Shortlisted	[59]
	Diane Fahey	The Wing Collection: New & Selected poems	Shortlisted	[59]
	Favel Parrett	Past The Shallows	Shortlisted	[59]
	Anna Funder	All That I Am	Shortlisted	[59]
	Gail Jones	Five Bells	Shortlisted	[59]
	Alex Miller	Autumn Laing	Shortlisted	[59]
	Elliot Perlman	The Street Sweeper	Shortlisted	[59]
	Gig Ryan	Gig Ryan: New and Selected Poems	Shortlisted	[59]
	Jaya Savige	Surface to Air	Shortlisted	[59]
2011	Kim Scott	That Deadman Dance	Winner	[33]
	Peter Boyle	Apocrypha	Shortlisted
	Peter Goldsworthy	Gravel	Shortlisted
	Kirsten Tranter	The Legacy	Shortlisted
	Chris Womersley	Bereft	Shortlisted
2010	David Malouf	Ransom	Winner	[33]
	Emily Ballou	The Darwin Poems	Shortlisted
	Steven Carroll	The Lost Life	Shortlisted
	Eva Hornung	Dog Boy	Shortlisted
	Cate Kennedy	The World Beneath	Shortlisted
2009	Christos Tsiolkas	The Slap	Winner	[33]
	John Clanchy	Her Father's Daughter	Shortlisted
	Helen Garner	The Spare Room	Shortlisted
	Evelyn Juers	House of Exile: The Life and Times of Heinrich Mann and Nelly Kroeger-Mann	Shortlisted
	John Kinsella	Divine Comedy: Journeys Through Regional Geography	Shortlisted
	Chris Wallace-Crabbe	Telling a Hawk from a Handsaw	Shortlisted
2008	Michelle de Kretser	The Lost Dog	Winner	[33]
	J. S. Harry	Not Finding Wittgenstein	Shortlisted
	Rhyll McMaster	Feather Man	Shortlisted
	David Malouf	Typewriter Music	Shortlisted
	Alex Miller	Landscape of Farewell	Shortlisted

See also

• Australian literature

References

1. "ALS Gold Medal". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
2. "Australian Literature Society" The Age, 8 October 1929, p13
3. "Australian Novel" The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 March 1930, p6
4. "Best Novel of 1930" The Argus, 16 June 1931, p6
5. "Literature Society's Gold Medal" The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 July 1932, p3
6. "In and About the City – Literature Award" The Courier-Mail, 10 November 1933, p10
7. "Australian Literature : Society's Annual 'Drama Night'" The Age, 6 October 1934, p21
8. "Best Novel of 1934" The Argus, 22 October 1935, p6
9. "Gold Medal – Australian Literary Society" The Canberra Times, 31 October 1936, p2
10. "Return to Coolami : Medal for Best Novel" The Argus, 21 September 1937, p11
11. "Seaforth Mackenzie Wins 1937 Literature Prize" The Telegraph, 22 November 1938, p8
12. "Literary Gold Medal : Award to Mr. R. D. Fitzgerald" The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 February 1940, p16
13. "Prize for Best Novel" The Argus, 19 March 1940, p1
14. "About People" The Age, 19 February 1941, p20
15. "Medal for Author of Happy Valley" The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 February 1941, p13
16. "Literature Prize" The Age, 19 November 1943, p2
17. "Melbourne Author Wins Gold Medal" The Argus, 10 December 1948, p10
18. "News of the Day" The Age, 3 November 1949, p2
19. Note wrong title, see letter from Nettie Palmer
20. The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature p129
21. "Crouch Prize for Literature to R. Ingamells" The Age, 7 April 1952, p5
22. "Literary Award to T.A.G. Hungerford" The Canberra Times, 11 February 1954, p3
23. Australian Classics : 50 Great Writers and Their Celebrated Work by Jane Gleeson-White, p61
24. Austlit – The Tree of Man by Patrick White
25. Austlit – A Difficult Young Man by Martin Boyd
26. "Papers of Randolph Stow" National Library of Australia
27. Austlit – Poems of Discovery by William Hart Smith
28. Austlit – Masters in Israel by Vincent Buckley
29. Austlit – Twenty-Three : Stories by John Morrison
30. Austlit – The Rush That Never Ended by Geoffrey Blainey
31. Austlit – The Burnt Ones by Patrick White
32. "Imaginary lives of the defeated in the realm of alienation", The Canberra Times, 21 February 1990, p33
33. "ALS Gold Medal - Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
34. "Brenda Niall's life of Archbishop Mannix wins Australia's oldest literary prize" by Jason Steger, The Age, 6 July 2016
35. "Morrison wins ALS Gold Medal". Books + Publishing. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
36. "Deo wins 2018 ALS Gold Medal | Books+Publishing" . Retrieved 6 July 2018.
37. "Brown wins 2019 ALS Gold Medal". Books+Publishing. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
38. "Papertalk Green wins 2020 ALS Gold Medal". Books+Publishing. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
39. "Simpson wins 2021 ALS Gold Medal for 'Song of the Crocodile'". Books+Publishing. 21 July 2021. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
40. "Jackson's 'Human Looking; wins ALS Gold Medal". Books+Publishing. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
41. ""Dank's 'We Come with This Place' wins ALS Gold Medal"". Books+Publishing. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
42. "Wright wins 2024 ALS Gold Medal". Books+Publishing. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
43. "McFarlane wins 2025 ALS Gold Medal". Books+Publishing. 1 July 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
44. "ALS Gold Medal 2024 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 6 June 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
45. "ALS Gold Medal 2023 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
46. "ALS Gold Medal 2022 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
47. "ALS Gold Medal 2021 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
48. "Papertalk Green wins 2020 ALS Gold Medal". Books+Publishing. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
49. "ALS Gold Medal 2020 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
50. "ALS Gold Medal 2019 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
51. "ALS Gold Medal 2019 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
52. "ALS Gold Medal 2018 shortlist announced | Books+Publishing" . Retrieved 6 November 2018.
53. "ALS Gold Medal 2017 shortlist announced". Books + Publishing. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
54. "ALS Gold Medal 2017 shortlist announced". Books + Publishing. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
55. Austlit – 2016 ALS Gold Medal
56. "ALS Gold Medal 2015 shortlist announced", Books + Publishing, 5 May 2015
57. "ALS Gold Medal 2014 shortlist announced", Books + Publishing, 27 February 2014
58. "2013 ALS Gold Medal Shortlist", ANZ LitLovers, 19 March 2013
59. ""ALS Gold Medal (1928-)"". Austlit. Retrieved 18 July 2025.

External links

• Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL)
• ALS Gold Medal at AustLit