Victorian Premier's Literary Awards

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates 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 Template:A$125,000 and category winners Template: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 Template: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are two other categories with different prize amounts: an honorary People's Choice Award voted on by readers, and an Unpublished Manuscript Award with a prize amount of $15,000.^[1] In 2022 an Award for Children's Literature valued at $25,000 was added, with entries being accepted in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	Script error: No such module "Sort".	That Deadman Dance	^[6]
2012	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[7]
2013	Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication.
2014	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Liquid Nitrogen	^[8]
2015	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[9]
2016	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Broken	^[10]
2017	Script error: No such module "Sort".	The Drover's Wife	^[11]
2018	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[12]
2019	Script error: No such module "Sort".	No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison	^[13]
2020	Script error: No such module "Sort". with Eamon Flack	Counting and Cracking	^[14]
2021	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "sort".	^[15]
2022	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience	^[16]
2023	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Cold Enough for Snow	^[17]
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Chinese Fish	^[18]
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Three Dresses	^[19]

Fiction

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

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

Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2011	Script error: No such module "Sort".	That Deadman Dance	^[6]
2012	Script error: No such module "Sort".	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	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Coal Creek	^[8]
2015	Script error: No such module "Sort".	To Name Those Lost	^[9]
2016	Script error: No such module "Sort".	The World Without Us	^[10]
2017	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Between a Wolf and a Dog	^[11]
2018	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Australia Day	^[12]
2019	Script error: No such module "Sort".	The Madonna of the Mountains	^[13]
2020	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Damascus	^[14]
2021	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "sort".	^[15]
2022	Melissa Manning	Smokehouse	^[16]
2023	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Cold Enough for Snow	^[17]
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Edenglassie	^[18]
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Highway 13	^[19]

Nonfiction

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

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

Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2011	Script error: No such module "Sort".	An Eye for Eternity: The Life Of Manning Clark	^[6]
2012	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[7]
2013	Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication.
2014	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Forgotten War	^[8]
2015	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[9]
2016	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Something for the Pain	^[10]
2017	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus	^[11]
2018	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[12]
2019	Script error: No such module "Sort".	No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison	^[13]
2020	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia	^[14]
2021	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Body Count: How Climate Change Is Killing Us	^[15]
2022	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[16]
2023	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Root & Branch: Essays on Inheritance	^[17]
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity	^[18]
2025	Susan Hampton	Anything Can Happen	^[19]

Poetry

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

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

Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2011	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[6]
2012	Script error: No such module "Sort".	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	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Liquid Nitrogen	^[8]
2015	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[9]
2016	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Crankhandle	^[12]
2017	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Carrying the World	^[11]
2018	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Argosy	^[12]
2019	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Tilt	^[13]
2020	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Nganajungu Yagu	^[14]
2021	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Case Notes	^[15]
2022	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Trigger Warning	^[16]
2023	Script error: No such module "Sort".	At the Altar of Touch	^[17]
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Chinese Fish	^[18]
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Gawimarra: Gathering	^[19]

Writing for Young Adults

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

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

Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2011	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[6]
2012	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[7]
2013	Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication.
2014	Script error: No such module "Sort".	My Life as an Alphabet	^[8]
2015	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[9]
2016	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Welcome to Orphancorp	^[10]
2017	Script error: No such module "Sort".	When Michael met Mina	^[11]
2018	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Living on Hope Street	^[12]
2019	Script error: No such module "Sort". and Ezekiel Kwaymullina	Catching Teller Crow	^[13]
2020	Script error: No such module "Sort".	How It Feels to Float	^[14]
2021	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Metal Fish, Falling Snow	^[15]
2022	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Girls in Boys' Cars	^[16]
2023	Script error: No such module "Sort".	We Who Hunt the Hollow	^[17]
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort".	A Hunger of Thorns	^[18]
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Anomaly	^[19]

Drama

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

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

Year	Author	Title
2011	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Do not go gentle…	^[6]
2012	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[7]
2013	Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication.
2014	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Savages	^[8]
2015	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Resplendence	^[9]
2016	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Broken	^[10]
2017	Script error: No such module "Sort".	The Drover's Wife	^[11]
2018	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Rice	^[12]
2019	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[13]
2020	Script error: No such module "Sort". with Eamon Flack	Counting and Cracking	^[14]
2021	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Wonnangatta	^[15]
2022	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Milk	^[16]
2023	Script error: No such module "Sort".	The Return	^[17]
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort". and Eamon Flack	The Jungle and the Sea	^[18]
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	37	^[19]

People's Choice Award

Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2011	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Into The Woods: The Battle for Tasmania's Forests	^[6]
2012	Script error: No such module "Sort".	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	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Burial Rites	^[8]
2015	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Where Song Began	^[9]
2016	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Fever of Animals	^[10]
2017	Script error: No such module "Sort".	When Michael met Mina	^[11]
2018	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Ida	^[12]
2019	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Eggshell Skull	^[13]
2020	Script error: No such module "Sort".	The Girls	^[14]
2021	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Witness	^[15]
2022	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Tiger Daughter	^[16]
2023	Script error: No such module "Sort". and Krystal De Napoli	Astronomy: Sky Country	^[17]
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort".	The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World	^[18]
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	I'd Rather Not	^[19]

Unpublished Manuscript

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

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

Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2012	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "sort".	^[20]
2013	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Foreign Soil
2014	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Fever of Animals
2015	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Script error: No such module "Sort".	^[9]
2016	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Australia Day	^[10]
2017	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Decay Theory	^[11]
2019	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Kokomo	^[13]
2020	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Hovering	^[14]
2021	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Anam	^[15]
2022	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Fauna of Mirrors	^[16]
2023	Script error: No such module "Sort".	One Divine Night	^[17]
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Panajachel	^[18]
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	I Made This Just for You	^[19]

Indigenous Writing

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2004	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Her Sister's Eye	^[21]
2006	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Swallow the Air	^[21]
2008	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Anonymous Premonition	^[21]
2010	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Legacy	^[21]
2012	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Am I Black Enough For You?	^[22]
2014	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Mullumbimby	^[23]
2016	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Ghost River	^[24]
2019	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Taboo	^[13]
2021	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music	^[15]
2022	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience	^[16]
2023	Script error: No such module "Sort".	The Upwelling	^[17]
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Close to the Subject: Selected Works	^[18]
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Black Witness	^[19]

Children's Literature

Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2024	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Ghost Book	^[18]
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	Three Dresses	^[19]

John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing

Year	Author	Title	Ref.
2025	Script error: No such module "Sort".	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.

Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction
Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction
Prize for Young Adult Fiction
C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry
Louis Esson Prize for Drama
Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate (after Alfred Deakin)
Prize for Science Writing (biennial)
Village Roadshow Prize for Screen Writing
Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize for Writing about Italians in Australia
John Curtin Prize for Journalism
Prize for Best Music Theatre Script
Prize for Indigenous Writing (Biennial)
Prize for a First Book of History (Biennial)
Dinny O'Hearn Prize for Literary Translation (Triennial)
A.A. Phillips Prize for Australian Studies
Alan Marshall Prize for Children's Literature
Prize for First Fiction

Notes

↑ ^a ^b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

External links

State Library of Victoria

Template:Victorian Premier's Literary Awards

[steger-1] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[2] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[3] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[4] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[5] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2011-6] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2012-7] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2014-8] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2015-9] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2016-10] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2017-11] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2018-12] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2019-13] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2020-14] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2021-15] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2022-16] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2023-17] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[winners2024-18] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[ABC2025-19] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[20] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[:5-21] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[:4-22] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[23] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[2017_awards-24] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards

Contents

Winners 2011–present

Victorian Prize for Literature

Fiction

Nonfiction

Poetry

Writing for Young Adults

Drama

People's Choice Award

Unpublished Manuscript

Indigenous Writing

Children's Literature

John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing

Defunct award categories (1985–2010)

See also

Notes

External links

Navigation menu

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards

Winners 2011–present

Victorian Prize for Literature

Fiction

Nonfiction

Poetry

Writing for Young Adults

Drama

People's Choice Award

Unpublished Manuscript

Indigenous Writing

Children's Literature

John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing

Defunct award categories (1985–2010)

See also

Notes

External links

Navigation menu

Search