Russell Prize

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The Russell Prize (Russell Prize for Humour Writing) is an Australian literary prize awarded every second year by the State Library of New South Wales to a humorous book. It was established in 2014 through a donation by Peter Wentworth Russell, "a farmer, businessman and passionate reader". [1] [2] A shortlist of six books is selected and publicly announced before the prize, which comes with a cash award of $10,000. [3] [4]

Contents

In 2021 a second category, Humour Writing for Young People, was introduced for a work aimed at the 5–12 age group. [5] Both winners were announced in June 2021. [6]

Russell Prize for Humour Writing

YearAuthorTitlePublisherShortlist
2015 Bernard Cohen The Antibiography of Robert F. MenziesFourth Estate [7] Helen Razer and Bernard Keane, A Short History of Stupid; Jo Case, Boomer & Me, A Memoir of Motherhood, and Asperger's; Sami Shah, I, Migrant; Mark Lamprell, The Full Ridiculous; and Annabel Crabb, The Wife Drought [8]
2017 Steve Toltz QuicksandSimon & Schuster [9] Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen, Going Out Backwards: A Grafton Everest Adventure; David Hunt, True Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia — Volume 2; Darrell Pitt, A Toaster on Mars; Ben Pobjie, Error Australis; and Rosie Waterland, The Anti-Cool Girl [10]
2019David CohenThe Hunter and Other Stories of Men Transit Lounge [11] Trent Dalton, Boy Swallows Universe (Fourth Estate); Tony Martin, Deadly Kerfuffle (Affirm); Ryan O'Neill, The Drover's Wives (Brio); Helen Razer, The Helen 100 (Allen & Unwin); and Tracy Sorensen, The Lucky Galah (Picador). [12]
2021 Nakkiah Lui Black is the New WhiteAllen & Unwin [13] Rawah Arja, The F Team (Giramondo); Chris Flynn, Mammoth (UQP); Dennis Glover, Factory 19 (Black Inc.); Nina Kenwood, It Sounded Better in My Head (Text); Jackie Ryan, Burger Force Vol. 4: Punishment (Parentheses Press). [14]
2023Martin McKenzie-MurrayThe SpeechwriterScribe [15] Georgie Carroll, Off the Charts (Pan Macmillan); Kaz Cooke, You’re Doing it Wrong (PRH); Patrick Lenton, Sexy Tales of Paleontology Subbed In); Gretel Killeen, My Daughter’s Wedding Hachette); Steve Toltz, Here Goes Nothing (PRH) [16]
2025 Michelle Brasier, My Brother's Ashes are in a Sandwich Bag (Ultimo); James Colley, The Next Big Thing (Pantera); Madeleine Gray, Green Dot (Allen & Unwin); Sun Jung, My Name is Gucci (Transit Lounge); Siang Lu, Ghost Cities (UQP); A. J. Mackinnon, Quaint Deeds (Black Inc.). [17]

Humour Writing for Young People

YearAuthorTitlePublisherShortlist
2021Philip BuntingWombatScholastic [6] Mike Barry, Action Tank – Book 2 (Mike Barry Was Here); Maggie Hutchings, illustrated by Felicita Sala, Your Birthday was the BEST! (Affirm); S. C. Manchild, illustrated by Sam Caldwell, Sneaky Shadows (Berbay); Jaclyn Moriarty, The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst (Allen & Unwin); Bob Graham, The Underhills: A Tooth Fairy Story (Walker Books). [14]
2023 Lian Tanner Rita's RevengeAllen & Unwin [15] Damian Callinan, illustrated by Adele K. Thomas, Weird School (PRH); Tanya Hennessy, illustrated by Leigh Hedstrom, Drum Roll Please, It’s Stevie Louise (Allen & Unwin); Maggie Hutchings, illus by Felicita Sala, Your School is the BEST! (Affirm Press); Sofie Laguna, illustrated by Marc McBride, The House on Pleasant Street (Allen & Unwin); Matt Stanton, Funny Kid Catastrophe (ABC Books) [16]
2025Gavin Aung Than, Baa Baa Black Belt (Scholastic); H. Hayek, Huda Was Here (Allen & Unwin); Maryam Master, illustrated by Astrid Hicks, Laughter is the Best Ending (Pan); Ross Curnow Oscar vs the Grand Old Dude Named York (Walker); Katherine Collette, Out of Bounds: The Too-Tall Tales of Alma T Best (HarperCollins). [17]

References

  1. ↑ "Russell Prize for Humour Writing". SLNSW. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "NSW State Library launches humour-writing prize". Books and Publishing. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Sullivan, Jane (6 June 2015). "Turning Pages: Prize for humour writing takes funny books seriously". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  4. ↑ Romei, Stephen (10 June 2017). "A PAIR OF RAGGED CLAWS". Weekend Australian. ProQuest   1911248683.
  5. ↑ "Russell Prize for Humour Writing adds children's category". Books+Publishing. 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  6. 1 2 "Lui wins Russell Prize for Humour Writing, Bunting wins inaugural writing for young people award". Books+Publishing. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  7. ↑ Wyndham, Susan (4 July 2015). "Undercover:News From the Book World". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "2015 - The Russell Prize for Humour Writing". State Library of NSW. 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  9. ↑ Morris, Linda (8 June 2017). "Steve Toltz's Quicksand wins $10,000 humour writing prize". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  10. ↑ "2017 - Russell Prize for Humour Writing". State Library of NSW. 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  11. ↑ "2019 - Russell Prize for Humour Writing". State Library of NSW. 2019-04-16. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  12. ↑ "Russell Prize for Humour Writing 2019 shortlist announced". Books + Publishing. 18 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  13. ↑ "Lui wins Russell Prize for Humour Writing, Bunting wins inaugural writing for young people award". Books+Publishing. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  14. 1 2 "Russell Prize for Humour Writing 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  15. 1 2 "The Russell Prize for Humour Writing". State Library of NSW. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  16. 1 2 "Russell Prize for Humour Writing 2023 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  17. 1 2 "Russell Prize for Humour Writing 2025 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 2025-04-23. Retrieved 2025-04-23.
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