Creative Australia has unveiled the shortlists for the 2024 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, the richest literary prize in the nation.
Among those shortlisted is Will Kostakis for his Young Adult novel We Could Be Something (Allen & Unwin).
The awards celebrate the exceptional talents of emerging and established Australian writers, illustrators, poets, and historians.
The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards acknowledge the contribution of Australian literature to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life. This marks the second year Creative Australia has delivered the awards, following the release of the Australian Government’s 2023 National Cultural Policy, Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place.
Reflecting on the significance of the awards, CEO Adrian Collette AM said: “Stories are the heartbeat of our culture, connecting us to our past, illuminating our present and shaping our future. The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards celebrate the storytellers who enrich our lives with their creativity and outstanding talent.”
Creative Australia received an impressive 533 entries across six literary categories: fiction, non-fiction, young adult literature, children’s literature, poetry, and Australian history.
Expert judging panels have carefully considered entries for the awards to select the final shortlists, including:
Australian History
- Donald Horne: A Life in the Lucky Country by Ryan Cropp (La Trobe University Press)
- Bee Miles By Rose Ellis (Allen & Unwin)
- Bennelong and Phillip: A History Unravelled by Kate Fullagar (Scribner)
- Killing for Country: A Family Story by David Marr (Black Inc)
- Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law by Alecia Simmonds (La Trobe University Press)
Fiction
- Anam by André Dao (Penguin Random House)
- Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville (Text Publishing)
- Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)
- The Carnal Fugues by Catherine McNamara (Puncher and Wattmann)
- Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (Allen & Unwin)
Non-Fiction
- Close to the Subject: Selected Works by Daniel Browning (Magabala Books)
- Eventually Everything Connects by Sarah Firth (Allen & Unwin)
- Graft: Motherhood, Family and a Year on the Land by Maggie MacKellar (Penguin Random House)
- A Kind of Confession by Alex Miller (Allen & Unwin)
- A Clear Flowing Yarra by Harry Saddler (Affirm Press)
Poetry
- In the Photograph by Luke Beesley (Giramondo Publishing)
- The Cyprian by Amy Crutchfield (Giramondo Publishing)
- She is the Earth by Ali Cobby Eckermann (Magabala Books)
- Golden Bridge: New Poems by Jennifer Maiden (Quemar Press)
- The Drama Student by Autumn Royal (Giramondo Publishing)
Young Adult
- Grace Notes by Karen Comer (Hachette Australia)
- Welcome to Sex by Dr Melissa Kang and Yumi Stynes (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
- We Could Be Something by Will Kostakis (Allen & Unwin)
- We Didn’t Think It Through by Gary Lonesborough (Allen & Unwin)
- A Hunger of Thorns by Lili Wilkinson (Allen & Unwin)
Children’s Literature
- Etta and the Shadow Taboo by Jared Field and Jeremy Worrall (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
- Ghost Book by Remy Lai (Allen & Unwin)
- Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky by Rebecca Lim (Allen & Unwin)
- Millie Mak the Maker by Alice Pung & Sher Rill Ng (HarperCollins Publishers)
- Tamarra: A Story of Termites on Gurindji Country by Violet Wadrill; Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal; Leah Leaman; Cecelia Edwards; Cassandra Algy; Felicity Meakins; Briony Barr and Gregory Crocetti (Hardie Grant Explore)
The winners of the 2024 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards will be announced on Thursday, September 12 at a prestigious ceremony held at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. The winners and shortlisted authors will share in a tax-free prize pool of $600,000, the highest amount for a literary award in Australia. Each shortlisted entry will receive $5,000 with the winner of each category receiving $80,000.
For more information on the shortlists, including judging panel comments, please visit: Prime Minister’s Literary Awards on the Creative Australia website.
