First presented in 2014, the Readings Prize is an Australian literary award across three separate categories of fiction: Children's, Young Adult and New Australian Fiction. [1] It is run by Readings bookstores, an independent Melbourne bookseller with eight stores, established in 1969. [2] In 2016, Readings won International Bookstore of the Year at the London Book Fair, a category open to all stores outside of the UK. [3] Every year, a shortlist of six titles is selected by a revolving panel of Readings staff. Once the shortlist has been decided, a guest judge then joins the panel to select a winner. The Prize is awarded to the work of highest literary merit. [4]
Readings owner Mark Rubbo said about the awards: 'It can be difficult for debut and second-time authors to attract attention, especially when the heavy-hitters dominate the media. We established the prizes to attract readers who might not necessarily pick up these books otherwise.' [5]
Created ‘to financially reward and promote debut and second-time authors of children’s, young adult, and new Australian fiction’, the Readings Prizes were created ‘to support new and outstanding Australian voices’. [6]
Winners of the New Australian Fiction Prize include: Jessica Au, [7] Alice Robinson, [8] Andrew Pippos, Jennifer Down, Elizabeth Tan, Stephanie Bishop, [9] Sam Carmody, [10] Zoe Morrison, and Ceridwen Dovey.
In 2023, Readings awarded an additional young adult book prize: the Gab Williams Prize will ‘honour previous prize manager and young adult author Gab Williams, who passed away suddenly in January 2023’, said Readings. The winner of the new prize is chosen by the Readings Teen Advisory Board, who are readers aged between 14 and 19 years, from the Readings YA Book Prize shortlist. [11] The inaugural winner of the Gab Williams Prize was Completely Normal (and Other Lies) by Biffy James (HGCP) in 2023. [12]
Year | Prize | Shortlist | Winner |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
| All That’s Left Unsaid (Tracey Lien, HQ) [14] |
2023 | Readings Children's Book Prize |
| No Words (Maryam Master, Pan) [14] |
2023 | Readings Young Adult Book Prize |
| If You Could See the Sun (Ann Liang, Harlequin Teen) [14] |
2023 | Gab Williams Prize | Completely Normal (and Other Lies) by Biffy James (HGCP) [15] | |
2022 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
| Cold Enough for Snow (Jessica Au, Giramondo) [17] |
2022 | Readings Children's Book Prize |
| The Sugarcane Kids and the Red Bottomed Boat (Charlie Archbold, Text) [19] |
2022 | Readings Young Adult Book Prize |
| Underground (Mirranda Burton, A&U) [21] |
2021 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
|
|
2021 | Readings Children's Book Prize |
| As Fast as I Can (Penny Tangey, UQP) [25] |
2021 | Readings Young Adult Book Prize |
| Future Girl (Asphyxia, A&U) [27] |
2020 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
| Smart Ovens for Lonely People (Elizabeth Tan) |
2020 | Readings Children's Book Prize |
| The Girl, the Cat and the Navigator (Matilda Woods, Scholastic) [30] |
2020 | Readings Young Adult Book Prize |
| Ghost Bird (Lisa Fuller, UQP) |
2019 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
| The Glad Shout (Alice Robinson, Affirm) [31] |
2019 | Readings Children’s Book Prize |
| The Peacock Detectives (Carly Nugent) [33] |
2019 | Readings Young Adult Book Prize |
| Stone Girl (Eleni Hale, Penguin) |
2018 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
| Pulse Points (Jennifer Down, Text) [36] |
2018 | Readings Children’s Book Prize |
| Tarin of the Mammoths: The Exile (Jo Sandhu, Penguin) [38] |
2018 | Readings Young Adult Book Prize |
| Amelia Westlake (Erin Gough, Hardie Grant Egmont) [40] |
2017 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
| The Windy Season (Sam Carmody) [42] |
2016 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
| Music and Freedom (Zoë Morrison) [44] |
2015 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
| The Other Side of the World (Stephanie Bishop) [46] [47] |
2014 | Readings New Australian Fiction Prize |
| Only the Animals (Ceridwen Dovey) [49] |
The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published writers in the English language under the age of forty. The prize was originally awarded biennially but became an annual award in 2010. Entries for the prize are submitted by the publisher, editor, or agent; for theatre plays and screenplays, by the producer.
Australian Book Review is an Australian arts and literary review. Created in 1961, ABR is an independent non-profit organisation that publishes articles, reviews, commentaries, essays, and new writing. The aims of the magazine are "to foster high critical standards, to provide an outlet for fine new writing, and to contribute to the preservation of literary values and a full appreciation of Australia's literary heritage".
The BILBY Awards are organised annually by the Queensland Branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia. The name of the award, BILBY, is an acronym of 'Books I Love Best Yearly'.
UWA Publishing, formerly known as the Text Books Board and then University of Western Australia Press, is a Western Australian publisher established in 1935 by the University of Western Australia. It produces a range of non-fiction and fiction titles.
The Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction, formerly known as the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction, is a prize category in the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award. As of 2011 it has a remuneration of A$25,000. The winner of this category prize vies with 4 other category winners for overall Victorian Prize for Literature valued at an additional A$100,000.
Kirsty Murray is an Australian author. Murray writes children's fiction with a focus on Australian history. She is known for the Children of the Wind series of children's novels. She is a recipient of the Aurealis Award for best children's fiction.
Anna Ciddor is an Australian author and illustrator.
Fiona McFarlane is an Australian author, best known for her book The Night Guest and her collection of short stories The High Places. She is a recipient of the Voss Literary Prize, the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the Nita Kibble Literary Award.
The Sydney Review of Books (SRB) is an online literary magazine established in 2013.
Lisa Gorton is an Australian poet, novelist, literary editor and essayist. She is the author of three award-winning poetry collections: Press Release, Hotel Hyperion, and Empirical. Her novel The Life of Houses, received the NSW Premier's People's Choice Award for Fiction, and the Prime Minister's Award for Fiction (shared). Gorton is also the editor of Black Inc's anthology Best Australian Poems 2013.
Fiona Anna Wood is an Australian writer of young adult fiction. She is a three-time winner of the Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers award.
The University of New South Wales Press Ltd. is an Australian academic book publishing company launched in 1962 and based in Randwick, a suburb of Sydney. The ACNC not-for-profit entity has three divisions: NewSouth Publishing, NewSouth Books, and the UNSW Bookshop, situated at the Kensington campus of the University of New South Wales, Sydney. The press is currently a member of the Association of University Presses.
Shivaun Plozza is an Australian author of books for children and young adults. She also works as an editor, manuscript assessor and illustrator.
Grimmish is a 2021 experimental historical novel by Australian writer Michael Winkler. It was first published as a paperback original in January 2021 in Australia by Westbourne Books. The book is based on the tour of Australia in 1908–09 by boxer Joe Grim. It includes Grim's work as a sparring partner for both Jack Johnson and Tommy Burns prior to their Fight of the Century on Boxing Day 1908.
Tom Doig is a New Zealand-Australian creative non-fiction author, investigative journalist and editor, today based in Brisbane, Queensland. He is the author of three nonfiction books, including The Coal Face - a co-winner of the Oral History Victoria Award - and the recipient of the 2023 Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) and the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa Writers’ Award.
Jessica Au is an Australian editor and bookseller, and author of the novels Cargo and Cold Enough for Snow. Au won the inaugural Novel Prize in 2022. She is based in Melbourne.
Kristel Thornell is an Australian novelist. Her first novel, Night Street, co-won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award, and won the Dobbie Literary Award, among other prizes and nominations.
Jodi McAlister is an Australian author and academic. She has published numerous books, including contemporary romance and young adult fiction and academic works regarding romance and literature.
Laura Elvery is an Australian author and winner of the Queensland Literary Awards' Steele Rudd Award for her short story collection Ordinary Matter.
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is an American speculative fiction author who wrote the short story collection Friday Black (2018) and his debut novel Chain-Gang All-Stars (2023). He was named one of "5 under 35 Authors" by the National Book Foundation in 2018 and won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award in 2019. Chain-Gang All-Stars was shortlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction and The New York Times named it one of the ten best books of 2023.
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