Australian Book of the Year (2006-)
Subcategory of Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA)
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Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2022

winner y separately published work icon Love and Virtue Diana Reid , Ultimo : Ultimo Press , 2021 21618821 2021 single work novel

'"Whenever I say I was at university with Eve, people ask me what she was like, sceptical perhaps that she could have always been as whole and self-assured as she now appears. To which I say something like: ‘People are infinitely complex.’ But I say it in such a way—so pregnant with misanthropy—that it’s obvious I hate her."

'Michaela and Eve are two bright, bold women who befriend each other their first year at a residential college at university, where they live in adjacent rooms. They could not be more different; one assured and popular – the other uncertain and eager-to-please. But something happens one night in O-week – a drunken encounter, a foggy memory that will force them to confront the realities of consent and wrestle with the dynamics of power.

'Initially bonded by their wit and sharp eye for the colleges’ mix of material wealth and moral poverty, Michaela and Eve soon discover how fragile friendship is, and how capable of betrayal they both are.

'Written with a strikingly contemporary voice that is both wickedly clever and incisive, issues of consent, class and institutional privilege, and feminism become provocations for enduring philosophical questions we face today.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2021

winner Julia Baird for Phosphorescence.

Year: 2020

winner y separately published work icon The Beach Bluey : The Beach Melbourne : Puffin , 2019 18743284 2019 single work picture book children's

'While Mum is off for a walk along the beach, Bluey discovers a beautiful shell. She runs to show Mum and has a series of encounters that will both excite and test her in unexpected ways.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2019

winner y separately published work icon Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton , Sydney South : Fourth Estate , 2018 13529833 2018 single work novel

'Brisbane, 1983: A lost father, a mute brother, a mum in jail, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crim for a babysitter. It's not as if Eli's life isn't complicated enough already. He's just trying to follow his heart, learning what it takes to be a good man, but life just keeps throwing obstacles in the way - not least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary Brisbane drug dealer.

'But if Eli's life is about to get a whole lot more serious. He's about to fall in love. And, oh yeah, he has to break into Boggo Road Gaol on Christmas Day, to save his mum.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2018

winner y separately published work icon Nevermoor : The Trials of Morrigan Crow Jessica Townsend , Sydney : Lothian , 2017 11160400 2017 single work children's fiction children's fantasy

'Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor. It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organisation: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart–an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests–or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.' (Publication summary)

Works About this Award

Voice Handbook Wins Top Award 2024 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 22 May no. 826 2024; (p. 30)

'First Nations literature is thriving, with our writers and publishers recognised and celebrated on national and international platforms.'

Magda Szubanski May Leave Australia If Changes to Book Industry Go Ahead Steph Harmon , Lucy Clark , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 20 May 2016;

'Magda Szubanski said she would consider leaving the country and called for writers to go on strike. Richard Flanagan called for the resignation of arts minister, Mitch Fifield. Tim Winton said the Turnbull government was about to kick a “massive own goal”.'

'On a night designed to celebrate the triumphs of Australian literary culture, there was no escaping the overriding message of doom: that the Australian book industry is in peril because of proposed changes to copyright law and import restrictions. ...'

Magda Szubanski's Memoir Reckoning Finds Its Place in the World of Winners Susan Wyndham , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 20 May 2016;
'Magda Szubanski began the week at the State Library of NSW with Premier Mike Baird holding up her mobile phone so her mother could hear her acceptance speech when she won the non-fiction prize in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards for her memoir Reckoning. ...'
Magda a Winning Author 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 20 May 2016; (p. 11)
The Ultimate Reckoning? Magda's a Serious Winner Susan Wyndham , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 20 May 2016; (p. 20)
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