The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) are publishers' and literary awards held by the Australian Publishers Association (APA) annually in Australia since 2001. [1]
The awards celebrate "the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Australian books to readers". Award recipients are first selected by an academy of more than 200 industry professionals, and then a shortlist and winners are chosen by judging panels. [1]
In 2025, ABIA is presenting 14 book awards, eight business awards, and the Lloyd O’Neil and Pixie O’Harris awards.
The Australian Book Publishers Association (ABPA) first presented the Lloyd O'Neil Award for "exceptional long service to the industry", at the annual awards night in 1992, in honour of publisher Lloyd O'Neil, after his death in February 1992. [2] The first Pixie O'Harris Award was presented in 1994, in hour of book illustrator Pixie O'Harris, which recognises "publishers, editors, creators, booksellers, publicists and other industry representatives who have worked consistently in the field of children’s literature, demonstrated commitment beyond the call of duty, and who have developed a reputation for their contribution". [3]
The ABPA was renamed to the Australian Publishers Association (APA) in 1996. [4] In 1999 and 2000, the APA and Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) held a joint industry awards night at the ABA conference and APA trade fair in Sydney. [5]
In 2001, the APA Book Industry Awards became known as the APA Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA). In the following year, eight awards were presented at the awards night, which were Publisher of the Year Award, Booksellers Career Development Award, Good Reading Award, Publishing Project of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, and Distributor of the Year, and the Lloyd O’Neil and Pixie O’Harris Award. [6]
In 2006, the awards were rebranded with the ABIA acronym, the number of awards was increased to 18 and the operation of the awards was placed in the hands of an academy of publishers and booksellers called the Australian Book Industry Academy. [7] [8]
In 2025, book industry news outlet Books+Publishing took over production of ABIA from the APA under a licensing agreement. [9]
The 2018 ABIA winners were announced on 3 May, with Jessica Townsend's Nevermoor receiving three awards: [10]
Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe picked up four awards in the 2019 ABIA awards. Winners were: [11]
The 2020 awards were announced at a virtual event hosted by Casey Bennetto on 13 May. Winners were: [12] [13]
The 2021 awards were announced at Carriageworks on 28 April at an in-person and virtual event hosted by Casey Bennetto. Winners were: [14]
The 2022 shortlist was announced on 25 May 2022, and the awards ceremony took place at ICC Sydney on 9 June 2022. [15]
The winners were: [16] [17] [18]
The 2023 shortlist was announced on 19 April 2023, [19] and the awards ceremony took place in Sydney on 25 May 2023. [20]
The 2024 awards ceremony took place in Melbourne on 9 May 2024. [22]
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