2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards

Winners of the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards

Victorian Prize for Literature, and the Prize for Non-Fiction
No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani (Picador Australia)

The Prize for Fiction
The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise Valmorbida (Faber & Faber)

The Prize for Drama
The Almighty Sometimes by Kendall Feaver (Currency Press, in association with Griffin Theatre Company)

The Prize for Poetry
Tilt by Kate Lilley (Vagabond Press)

The Prize for Writing for Young Adults
Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (Allen & Unwin)

The Prize for Indigenous Writing
Taboo by Kim Scott (Picador Australia)

The Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript
Kokomo by Victoria Hannan

People’s Choice Award
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)


 
The Shortlist

FICTION

Flames by Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing)

Ironbark by Jay Carmichael (Scribe Publications)

The Fireflies of Autumn: And Other Tales of San Ginese by Moreno Giovannoni (Black Inc. Books)

The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones (Text Publishing)

Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)

The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise Valmorbida (Faber & Faber)

NON-FICTION

No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani (Picador Australia)

Staying: A Memoir by Jessie Cole (Text Publishing)

The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire by Chloe Hooper (Penguin Random House Australia)

Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)

Miss Ex-Yugoslavia by Sofija Stefanovic (Penguin Random House Australia)

Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin (Brow Books)

DRAMA

The Almighty Sometimes by Kendall Feaver (Currency Press, in association with Griffin Theatre Company)

Going Down by Michele Lee (Malthouse Theatre)

Barbara and the Camp Dogs by Ursula Yovich and Alana Valentine (Currency Press, in association with Belvoir)

POETRY

Flood Damages by Eunice Andrada (Giramondo Publishing)

Tilt by Kate Lilley (Vagabond Press)

Milk Teeth by Rae White (University of Queensland Press)

WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough (Hardie Grant Egmont)

Between Us by Clare Atkins (Black Inc. Books)

Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (Allen & Unwin)

INDIGENOUS WRITING

Common People by Tony Birch (University of Queensland Press)

Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)

Taboo by Kim Scott (Picador Australia)

Blakwork by Alison Whittaker (Magabala Books)

UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT

Wedding Cake Island by John Byron

Kokomo by Victoria Hannan

Frontier Sport by Wayne Marshall



Highly Commended

FICTION

Pink Mountain on Locust Island by Jamie Marina Lau (Brow Books)

NON-FICTION

Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia by Billy Griffiths (Black Inc. Books)

One Hundred Years of Dirt by Rick Morton (Melbourne University Publishing)

Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home by Sisonke Msimang (Text Publishing)

Small Wrongs: How we really say sorry in love, life and law by Kate Rossmanith (Hardie Grant Books)

DRAMA

Lethal Indifference by Anna Barnes (Sydney Theatre Company)

In the Club by Patricia Cornelius (State Theatre Company of South Australia)

POETRY

Body of Work by Elena Gomez (Cordite Publishing)

Subtraction by Fiona Hile (Vagabond Press)

Blakwork by Alison Whittaker (Magabala Books)

YOUNG ADULT

After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson (Allen & Unwin)

Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza (Penguin Random House Australia)

UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT

The Fogging by Luke Horton

This Wasn’t Meant To Be Me by Allee Richards



The Judges

FICTION

Jackie Tang, Abigail Ulman, Chris Womersley, Elizabeth McCarthy (convenor)

NON-FICTION

Dennis Altman, Fatima Measham, Sonia Nair, Bhakthi Puvanenthiran, Jordy Silverstein (convenor)

DRAMA

Tim Byrne, Samah Sabawi, Alison Croggon (convenor)

POETRY

Broede Carmody, Lia Incognita, Gig Ryan (convenor)

WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Melissa Keil, Nevo Zisin, Leanne Hall (convenor)

INDIGENOUS WRITING

Genevieve Grieves, Mark McMillan, Jane Harrison (convenor)

UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT

Jaclyn Crupi, JP Pomare, Elizabeth Flux (convenor)



The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards were inaugurated by the Victorian Government in 1985 to honour literary achievement by Australian writers. The awards are administered by the Wheeler Centre on behalf of the Premier of Victoria.