The Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards aims to support, develop and recognise excellence in writing.
In 2015, the awards moved to a biennial format, but it was announced in 2018 that the awards would return to an annual format.
There were no awards in 2017.
In 2018, the awards were re-imagined to include four categories. Three of these are open to Western Australian residents only: Western Australian Writing Fellowship; Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer; and Premier's Prize for Writing for Children. The Daisy Utemorrah Award for unpublished Indigenous Junior and YA Writing (established in 2018), is open to all Australian residents.
The awards are announced in the year following the works' publication.
'The WA Premier’s Book Awards finalists have been announced after a year’s lay-off because of State Budget cuts.'
'The 792 entries, up 61 per cent from 492 in 2014, reflects the backlog since Richard Flanagan won the major $25,000 Premier’s Prize with The Narrow Road to the Deep North.But the new biennial format appears to have deterred some entries because publishers prefer more current recognition soon after a book’s release. ...'
