Victorian Premier's Literary Awards

The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary prize with the top winner receiving A$125,000 and category winners A$25,000 each.[1]

The awards were established in 1985 by John Cain, Premier of Victoria, to mark the centenary of the births of Vance and Nettie Palmer, two of Australia's best-known writers and critics who made significant contributions to Victorian and Australian literary culture.

From 1986 till 1997, the awards were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. In 1997 their administration was transferred to the State Library of Victoria.[2] By 2004, the total prize money was A$180,000. In 2011, stewardship was taken over by the Wheeler Centre.

Winners 2011–present

Beginning in 2011,[3] the awards were restructured into 5 categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Drama and Young People's. The winner of each receives $25,000. Of those 5 winners, one is chosen as the overall winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature and receives an additional $100,000. There are two other categories with different prize amounts: an honorary People's Choice Award voted on by readers, and an Unpublished Manuscript Award with a prize amount of $15,000.[1] In 2022 an Award for Children's Literature valued at $25,000 was added, with entries being accepted in 2023.[4]

Shortlists are maintained in the main article for each category.

Victorian Prize for Literature
Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Kim Scott That Deadman Dance [5][6]
2012 Bill Gammage The Biggest Estate on Earth [7]
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Jennifer Maiden Liquid Nitrogen [8]
2015 Alan Atkinson The Europeans in Australia: Volume Three: Nation [9]
2016 Mary Anne Butler Broken [10]
2017 Leah Purcell The Drover's Wife [11]
2018 Sarah Krasnostein The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster [12]
2019 Behrouz Boochani No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison [13][14]
2020 S. Shakthidharan with Eamon Flack Counting and Cracking [15]
2021 Laura Jean McKay The Animals in That Country [16][17][18]
2022 Veronica Gorrie Black and Blue: A memoir of racism and resilience [19]
2023 Jessica Au Cold Enough for Snow [20]

Fiction
Main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction.

Year Author Title Ref.
2011

Kim Scott

 That Deadman Dance [6]
2012

Gillian Mears

 Foal's Bread
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014

Alex Miller

 Coal Creek
2015

Rohan Wilson

 To Name Those Lost
2016

Mireille Juchau

 The World Without Us
2017

Georgia Blain

 Between a Wolf and a Dog
2018

Melanie Cheng

 Australia Day [21]
2019

Elise Valmorbida

 The Madonna of the Mountains [13]
2020

Christos Tsiolkas

 Damascus [15]
2021

Laura Jean McKay

 The Animals in That Country [16][18]
2022

Melissa Manning

 Smokehouse [19]
2023 Jessica Au Cold Enough for Snow [20]

Nonfiction
Main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction.

Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Mark McKenna An Eye for Eternity: The Life Of Manning Clark
2012 Bill Gammage The Biggest Estate on Earth
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Henry Reynolds Forgotten War
2015 Alan Atkinson The Europeans in Australia: Volume Three: Nation
2016 Gerald Murnane Something for the Pain
2017 Madeline Gleeson Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus
2018 Sarah Krasnostein The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster
2019 Behrouz Boochani No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison [13][14]
2020 Christina Thompson Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia [15]
2021 Paddy Manning Body Count: How Climate Change is Killing Us [16]
2022 Amani Haydar The Mother Wound [19]
2023 Eda Gunaydin Root & Branch: Essays on Inheritance [20]

Poetry
Main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry.

Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Cate Kennedy The Taste of River Water
2012 John Kinsella Armour
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Jennifer Maiden Liquid Nitrogen
2015 Jill Jones The Beautiful Anxiety
2016 Alan Loney Crankhandle
2017 Maxine Beneba Clarke Carrying the World
2018 Bella Li Argosy
2019 Kate Lilley Tilt [13]
2020 Charmaine Papertalk Green Nganajungu Yagu [15]
2021 David Stavanger Case Notes [16]
2022 Maria Takolander Trigger Warning [19]
2023 Gavin Yuan Gao At the Altar of Touch [20]

Writing for Young Adults
Main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Writing for Young Adults

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction.

Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Cassandra Golds The Three Loves of Persimmon
2012 John Larkin The Shadow Girl
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Barry Jonsberg My Life as an Alphabet
2015 Claire Zorn The Protected
2016 Marlee Jane Ward Welcome to Orphancorp
2017 Randa Abdel-Fattah When Michael met Mina
2018 Demet Divaroren Living on Hope Street
2019 Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina Catching Teller Crow [13]
2020 Helena Fox How It Feels to Float [15]
2021 Cath Moore Metal Fish, Falling Snow [16]
2022 Felicity Castagna Girls in Boys' Cars [19]
2023 Kate Murray We Who Hunt the Hollow [22]

Drama
Main article: Victorian Premier's Prize for Drama

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Louis Esson Prize for Drama.

Year Author Title
2011 Patricia Cornelius Do not go gentle…
2012 Lally Katz A Golem Story
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Patricia Cornelius Savages
2015 Angus Cerini Resplendence
2016 Mary Anne Butler Broken
2017 Leah Purcell The Drover's Wife
2018 Michele Lee Rice
2019 Kendall Feaver The Almighty Sometimes [13]
2020 S. Shakthidharan with Eamon Flack Counting and Cracking [15]
2021 Angus Cerini Wonnangatta [16]
2022 Dylan Van Den Berg Milk [19]
2023 John Harvey The Return [20]

People's Choice Award
Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Anna Krien Into The Woods: The Battle for Tasmania's Forests [5]
2012 Aidan Fennessy National Interest [7]
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Hannah Kent Burial Rites [8]
2015 Tim Low Where Song Began
2016 Miles Allinson Fever of Animals
2017 Randa Abdel-Fattah When Michael met Mina
2018 Alison Evans Ida
2019 Bri Lee Eggshell Skull [23]
2020 Chloe Higgins The Girls [15]
2021 Louise Milligan Witness: An Investigation into the Brutal Cost of Seeking Justice [16]
2022 Rebecca Lim Tiger Daughter [19]
2023 Karlie Noon and Krystal De Napoli Astronomy: Sky Country

Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award
Main article: Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award

For winners from 2003 to 2010, see the main article. No award was presented in 2011.

Year Author Title Ref.
2012 Graeme Simsion The Rosie Project [24]
2013 Maxine Beneba Clarke Foreign Soil
2014 Miles Allinson Fever of Animals
2015 Jane Harper The Dry [25]
2016 Melanie Cheng Australia Day
2017 Christian White Decay Theory
2019 Victoria Hannan Kokomo [13]
2020 Rhett David Hovering [15]
2021 André Dao Anam [16]
2022 Keshe Chow Fauna of Mirrors [19]

Prize for Indigenous Writing
Main article: Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing
Year Author Title Ref.
2004 Vivienne Cleven Her Sister's Eye [26]
2006 Tara June Winch Swallow the Air [26]
2008 Yvette Holt Anonymous Premonition [26]
2010 Larissa Behrendt Legacy [26]
2012 Anita Heiss Am I Black Enough For You? [27]
2014 Melissa Lucashenko Mullumbimby [28]
2016 Tony Birch Ghost River [29]
2019 Kim Scott Taboo [13]
2021 Archie Roach Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music [16]
2022 Veronica Gorrie Black and Blue: A memoir of racism and resilience [19]
2023 Lystra Rose The Upwelling [20]

Defunct award categories (1985–2010)

From 1985 to 2010 prizes were offered in some or all of the below categories.

See also

Notes
  1. Jason Steger (28 January 2014). "Liquid Nitrogen poet Jennifer Maiden wins Australia's richest literature prize". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  2. "State Library Victoria".
  3. Zora Sanders (21 April 2011). "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards to be the Richest in Australia". Meanjin. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. "VPLAs add children's award". Books+Publishing. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  5. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2011". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  6. "Awards: Victorian Prize for Literature". Shelf Awareness. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  7. "21 big names. One big decision. Start reading". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  8. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2014". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  9. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2015". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  10. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2016". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  11. Steger, Jason (31 January 2017). "Victorian Premier's Literary Award 2017 winners: Georgia Blain wins posthumous prize". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  12. Harmon, Steph (1 February 2018). "Sarah Krasnostein wins $125,000 at Australia's richest literary prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  13. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2019". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  14. "Awards: Victorian Prize for Literature". Shelf Awareness. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  15. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2020". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  16. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2021". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  17. "Pandemic novel wins Australia's richest literary prize". Books+Publishing. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  18. "Awards: Victorian Prize for Literature". Shelf Awareness. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  19. "Gorrie wins 2022 Victorian Prize for Literature". Books+Publishing. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  20. "The 2023 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  21. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2018". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  22. "Au wins 2023 Victorian Prize for Literature at VPLAs". Books+Publishing. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  23. "VPLAs 2019: Manus detainee Boochani wins $100k top prize". Books+Publishing. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  24. "The Rosie Project". Shelf Awareness. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  25. "Jane Harper: Giving Readers What They Want". Shelf Awareness. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  26. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards – Prize for Indigenous Writing". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  27. "Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing: Winner and Shortlist Announced". Wheeler Centre. 5 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  28. "Congratulations to Melissa Lucashenko: Victorian Premier's Literary Awards". Griffith Review. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  29. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
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