Victorian Premier's Literary Awards

Category:Use dmy dates from November 2019 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 five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Drama and Young People's. The winner of each receives $25,000. Of those five 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are two other categories with different prize amounts: an honorary People's Choice Award voted on by readers, and an Unpublished Manuscript Award with a prize amount of $15,000.[1] In 2022 an Award for Children's Literature valued at $25,000 was added, with entries being accepted in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] Another category was added in 2024, the John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing, honouring satirist John Clarke, for fiction, nonfiction and poetry.[5]

Shortlists are maintained in the main article for each category.

Victorian Prize for Literature

Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Kim ScottCategory:Articles with hCards That Deadman Dance [6]
2012 Bill GammageCategory:Articles with hCards The Biggest Estate on EarthCategory:Articles with hCards [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 MaidenCategory:Articles with hCards Liquid Nitrogen [8]
2015 Alan AtkinsonCategory:Articles with hCards The Europeans in Australia: Volume Three: NationCategory:Articles with hCards [9]
2016 Mary Anne ButlerCategory:Articles with hCards Broken [10]
2017 Leah PurcellCategory:Articles with hCards The Drover's Wife [11]
2018 Sarah KrasnosteinCategory:Articles with hCards The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & DisasterCategory:Articles with hCards [12]
2019 Behrouz BoochaniCategory:Articles with hCards No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison [13]
2020 S. ShakthidharanCategory:Articles with hCards with Eamon Flack Counting and Cracking [14]
2021 Laura Jean McKayCategory:Articles with hCards The Animals in That Country [15]
2022 Veronica GorrieCategory:Articles with hCards Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience [16]
2023 Jessica AuCategory:Articles with hCards Cold Enough for Snow [17]
2024 Grace YeeCategory:Articles with hCards Chinese Fish [18]
2025 Wanda GibsonCategory:Articles with hCards Three Dresses [19]
2026 Evelyn AraluenCategory:Articles with hCards The Rot [20]

Fiction

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

Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Kim ScottCategory:Articles with hCards That Deadman Dance [6]
2012 Gillian MearsCategory:Articles with hCards Foal's Bread [7]
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Alex MillerCategory:Articles with hCards Coal Creek [8]
2015 Rohan WilsonCategory:Articles with hCards To Name Those Lost [9]
2016 Mireille JuchauCategory:Articles with hCards The World Without Us [10]
2017 Georgia BlainCategory:Articles with hCards Between a Wolf and a Dog [11]
2018 Melanie ChengCategory:Articles with hCards Australia Day [12]
2019 Elise ValmorbidaCategory:Articles with hCards The Madonna of the Mountains [13]
2020 Christos TsiolkasCategory:Articles with hCards Damascus [14]
2021 Laura Jean McKayCategory:Articles with hCards The Animals in That Country [15]
2022 Melissa Manning Smokehouse [16]
2023 Jessica AuCategory:Articles with hCards Cold Enough for Snow [17]
2024 Melissa LucashenkoCategory:Articles with hCards Edenglassie [18]
2025 Fiona McFarlaneCategory:Articles with hCards Highway 13 [19]
2026 Omar MusaCategory:Articles with hCards Fierceland [20]

Nonfiction

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

Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Mark McKennaCategory:Articles with hCards An Eye for Eternity: The Life Of Manning Clark [6]
2012 Bill GammageCategory:Articles with hCards The Biggest Estate on EarthCategory:Articles with hCards [7]
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Henry ReynoldsCategory:Articles with hCards Forgotten War [8]
2015 Alan AtkinsonCategory:Articles with hCards The Europeans in Australia: Volume Three: NationCategory:Articles with hCards [9]
2016 Gerald MurnaneCategory:Articles with hCards Something for the Pain [10]
2017 Madeline GleesonCategory:Articles with hCards Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus [11]
2018 Sarah KrasnosteinCategory:Articles with hCards The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & DisasterCategory:Articles with hCards [12]
2019 Behrouz BoochaniCategory:Articles with hCards No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison [13]
202o Christina ThompsonCategory:Articles with hCards Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia [14]
2021 Paddy ManningCategory:Articles with hCards Body Count: How Climate Change Is Killing Us [15]
2022 Amani HaydarCategory:Articles with hCards The Mother WoundCategory:Articles with hCards [16]
2023 Eda GunaydinCategory:Articles with hCards Root & Branch: Essays on Inheritance [17]
2024 Ellen van NeervenCategory:Articles with hCards Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity [18]
2025 Susan Hampton Anything Can Happen [19]
2026 Micaela Sahhar Find Me at the Jaffa Gate: An Encyclopaedia of a Palestinian Family [20]

Poetry

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

Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Cate KennedyCategory:Articles with hCards The Taste of River WaterCategory:Articles with hCards [6]
2012 John KinsellaCategory:Articles with hCards Armour [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 MaidenCategory:Articles with hCards Liquid Nitrogen [8]
2015 Jill JonesCategory:Articles with hCards The Beautiful AnxietyCategory:Articles with hCards [9]
2016 Alan LoneyCategory:Articles with hCards Crankhandle [12]
2017 Maxine Beneba ClarkeCategory:Articles with hCards Carrying the World [11]
2018 Bella LiCategory:Articles with hCards Argosy [12]
2019 Kate LilleyCategory:Articles with hCards Tilt [13]
2020 Charmaine Papertalk GreenCategory:Articles with hCards Nganajungu Yagu [14]
2021 David StavangerCategory:Articles with hCards Case Notes [15]
2022 Maria TakolanderCategory:Articles with hCards Trigger Warning [16]
2023 Gavin Yuan GaoCategory:Articles with hCards At the Altar of Touch [17]
2024 Grace YeeCategory:Articles with hCards Chinese Fish [18]
2025 Jeanine LeaneCategory:Articles with hCards Gawimarra: Gathering [19]
2026 Eunice AndradaCategory:Articles with hCards KONTRA [20]

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 GoldsCategory:Articles with hCards The Three Loves of PersimmonCategory:Articles with hCards [6]
2012 John LarkinCategory:Articles with hCards The Shadow GirlCategory:Articles with hCards [7]
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Barry JonsbergCategory:Articles with hCards My Life as an Alphabet [8]
2015 Claire ZornCategory:Articles with hCards The ProtectedCategory:Articles with hCards [9]
2016 Marlee Jane WardCategory:Articles with hCards Welcome to Orphancorp [10]
2017 Randa Abdel-FattahCategory:Articles with hCards When Michael met Mina [11]
2018 Demet DivarorenCategory:Articles with hCards Living on Hope Street [12]
2019 Ambelin KwaymullinaCategory:Articles with hCards and Ezekiel Kwaymullina Catching Teller Crow [13]
2020 Helena FoxCategory:Articles with hCards How It Feels to Float [14]
2021 Cath MooreCategory:Articles with hCards Metal Fish, Falling Snow [15]
2022 Felicity CastagnaCategory:Articles with hCards Girls in Boys' Cars [16]
2023 Kate MurrayCategory:Articles with hCards We Who Hunt the Hollow [17]
2024 Lili WilkinsonCategory:Articles with hCards A Hunger of Thorns [18]
2025 Emma LordCategory:Articles with hCards Anomaly [19]
2026 Margot McGovernCategory:Articles with hCards This Stays Between Us [20]

Drama

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

Year Author Title
2011 Patricia CorneliusCategory:Articles with hCards Do not go gentle… [6]
2012 Lally KatzCategory:Articles with hCards A Golem StoryCategory:Articles with hCards [7]
2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013.

Previous awards were based on the year of publication.

2014 Patricia CorneliusCategory:Articles with hCards Savages [8]
2015 Angus CeriniCategory:Articles with hCards Resplendence [9]
2016 Mary Anne ButlerCategory:Articles with hCards Broken [10]
2017 Leah PurcellCategory:Articles with hCards The Drover's Wife [11]
2018 Michele LeeCategory:Articles with hCards Rice [12]
2019 Kendall FeaverCategory:Articles with hCards The Almighty SometimesCategory:Articles with hCards [13]
2020 S. ShakthidharanCategory:Articles with hCards with Eamon Flack Counting and Cracking [14]
2021 Angus CeriniCategory:Articles with hCards Wonnangatta [15]
2022 Dylan Van Den BergCategory:Articles with hCards Milk [16]
2023 John HarveyCategory:Articles with hCards The Return [17]
2024 S. ShakthidharanCategory:Articles with hCards and Eamon Flack The Jungle and the Sea [18]
2025 Nathan MaynardCategory:Articles with hCards 37 [19]
2026 Emilie CollyerCategory:Articles with hCards Super [20]

People's Choice Award

Year Author Title Ref.
2011 Anna KrienCategory:Articles with hCards Into The Woods: The Battle for Tasmania's Forests [6]
2012 Aidan FennessyCategory:Articles with hCards 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 KentCategory:Articles with hCards Burial Rites [8]
2015 Tim LowCategory:Articles with hCards Where Song Began [9]
2016 Miles AllinsonCategory:Articles with hCards Fever of Animals [10]
2017 Randa Abdel-FattahCategory:Articles with hCards When Michael met Mina [11]
2018 Alison EvansCategory:Articles with hCards Ida [12]
2019 Bri LeeCategory:Articles with hCards Eggshell Skull [13]
2020 Chloe HigginsCategory:Articles with hCards The Girls [14]
2021 Louise MilliganCategory:Articles with hCards Witness [15]
2022 Rebecca LimCategory:Articles with hCards Tiger Daughter [16]
2023 Karlie NoonCategory:Articles with hCards and Krystal De Napoli Astronomy: Sky Country [17]
2024 Antony LoewensteinCategory:Articles with hCards The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World [18]
2025 Robert SkinnerCategory:Articles with hCards I'd Rather Not [19]
2026 Randa Abdel-FattahCategory:Articles with hCards Discipline [20][21]

Unpublished Manuscript

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

Year Author Title Ref.
2012 Graeme SimsionCategory:Articles with hCards The Rosie Project [22]
2013 Maxine Beneba ClarkeCategory:Articles with hCards Foreign Soil
2014 Miles AllinsonCategory:Articles with hCards Fever of Animals
2015 Jane HarperCategory:Articles with hCards The DryCategory:Articles with hCards [9]
2016 Melanie ChengCategory:Articles with hCards Australia Day [10]
2017 Christian WhiteCategory:Articles with hCards Decay Theory [11]
2019 Victoria HannanCategory:Articles with hCards Kokomo [13]
2020 Rhett DavidCategory:Articles with hCards Hovering [14]
2021 André DaoCategory:Articles with hCards Anam [15]
2022 Keshe ChowCategory:Articles with hCards Fauna of Mirrors [16]
2023 Mick CumminsCategory:Articles with hCards One Divine Night [17]
2024 Rachel MortonCategory:Articles with hCards Panajachel [18]
2025 Chris AmesCategory:Articles with hCards I Made This Just for You [19]
2026 Charlotte GuestCategory:Articles with hCards The Kookaburra [23]

Indigenous Writing

Year Author Title Ref.
2004 Vivienne ClevenCategory:Articles with hCards Her Sister's Eye [24]
2006 Tara June WinchCategory:Articles with hCards Swallow the Air [24]
2008 Yvette HoltCategory:Articles with hCards Anonymous Premonition [24]
2010 Larissa BehrendtCategory:Articles with hCards Legacy [24]
2012 Anita HeissCategory:Articles with hCards Am I Black Enough For You? [25]
2014 Melissa LucashenkoCategory:Articles with hCards Mullumbimby [26]
2016 Tony BirchCategory:Articles with hCards Ghost River [27]
2019 Kim ScottCategory:Articles with hCards Taboo [13]
2021 Archie RoachCategory:Articles with hCards Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music [15]
2022 Veronica GorrieCategory:Articles with hCards Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience [16]
2023 Lystra RoseCategory:Articles with hCards The Upwelling [17]
2024 Daniel BrowningCategory:Articles with hCards Close to the Subject: Selected Works [18]
2025 Amy McQuireCategory:Articles with hCards Black Witness [19]
2026 Evelyn AraluenCategory:Articles with hCards The Rot [20]

Children's Literature

Year Author Title Ref.
2024 Remy LaiCategory:Articles with hCards Ghost Book [18]
2025 Wanda GibsonCategory:Articles with hCards Three Dresses [19]
2026 Zeno SworderCategory:Articles with hCards Once I Was a Giant [20]

John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing

Year Author Title Ref.
2025 Robert SkinnerCategory:Articles with hCards I'd Rather Not [19]

Defunct award categories (1985–2010)

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

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Steger, Jason (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. ↑ Sanders, Zora (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. ↑ "New prize for humour writing added to VPLAs". Books+Publishing. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ""Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2011"". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ""Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2012"". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2014". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2015". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2016". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2018". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2019". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2020". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2021". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2022". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2023". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2024". Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Story, Hannah (19 March 2025). "Growing up, Wanda got old dresses for Xmas. Her book about it just won $125k". ABC News. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Nothover, Kylie (25 February 2026). "'So many stories to tell': First Nations poet wins prestigious literary prize". The Age. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  21. ↑ Karakulak, Helen (26 February 2026). "'Sweet victory against Premiers': Abdel-Fattah wins Vic literary award". InDaily. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  22. ↑ "The Rosie Project". Shelf Awareness. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  23. ↑ Cain, Sian (25 February 2026). "Evelyn Araluen wins $125,000 for 'politically uncompromising' poetry at Victorian premier's literary awards". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards – Prize for Indigenous Writing". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  25. ↑ "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.
  26. ↑ Hornbeck, Susan (4 September 2014). "Congratulations to Melissa Lucashenko: Victorian Premier's Literary Awards". Griffith Review. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  27. ↑ "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017". The Wheeler Centre. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
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