ABIA 2018 longlists announced
The longlists for the 2018 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced.
The titles in each category are:
General fiction book of the year
- Force of Nature (Jane Harper, Macmillan)
- On the Java Ridge (Jock Serong, Text)
- The Dark Lake (Sarah Bailey, A&U)
- The Girl from Munich (Tania Blanchard, S&S)
- The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club (Sophie Green, Hachette)
- The Secrets She Keeps (Michael Robotham, Hachette)
- The Tea Gardens (Fiona McIntosh, Michael Joseph)
- The Trip of a Lifetime (Monica McInerney, Michael Joseph)
Literary fiction book of the year
- A Long Way Home (Peter Carey, Hamish Hamilton)
- Australia Day (Melanie Cheng, Text)
- First Person (Richard Flanagan, Knopf)
- See What I Have Done (Sarah Schmidt, Hachette)
- Taboo (Kim Scott, Picador)
- The Choke (Sofie Laguna, A&U)
- The Life to Come (Michelle de Kretser, A&U)
- Wimmera (Mark Brandi, Hachette)
General nonfiction book of the year
- Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness (Kate Cole-Adams, Text)
- Being 14 (Madonna King, Hachette)
- Depends What You Mean By Extremist (John Safran, Hamish Hamilton)
- First, We Make The Beast Beautiful (Sarah Wilson, Macmillan)
- Not Just Lucky (Jamila Rizvi, Viking)
- Saga Land (Richard Fidler & Kári Gíslason, ABC Books)
- Taming Toxic People (David Gillespie, Macmillan)
- The Harbour: A City’s Heart, A Country’s Soul (Scott Bevan, S&S)
- The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster (Sarah Krasnostein, Text)
Biography book of the year
- A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work (Bernadette Brennan, Text)
- Danger Music (Eddie Ayres, A&U)
- The Enigmatic Mr Deakin (Judith Brett, Text)
- Tracker (Alexis Wright, Giramondo)
- Unbreakable (Jelena Dokic & Jess Halloran, Ebury)
- Unmasked (Turia Pitt, Ebury)
- Wednesdays with Bob (Derek Rielly & Bob Hawke, Macmillan)
- Working Class Man (Jimmy Barnes, HarperCollins)
Book of the year for older children (ages 13+)
- Beautiful Mess (Claire Christian, Text)
- Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology (ed by Danielle Binks, HarperCollins)
- Frogkisser! (Garth Nix, A&U)
- My Life as a Hashtag (Gabrielle Williams, A&U)
- Take Three Girls (Simmone Howell, Cath Crowley & Fiona Wood, Pan)
- Tales From a Tall Forest (Shaun Micallef, illus by Jonathan Bentley, Hardie Grant Egmont)
- The Silent Invasion (James Bradley, Pan)
- Untidy Towns, (Kate O’Donnell, UQP)
Book of the year for younger children (ages 7-13)
- Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase (Peter Helliar, illus by Lesley Vamos, Hardie Grant Egmont)
- Funny Kid for President (Matt Stanton, ABC Books)
- Maybe (Morris Gleitzman, Viking)
- Nevermoor (Jessica Townsend, Lothian)
- Polly and Buster: The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster (Sally Rippin, Hardie Grant Egmont)
- The Bad Guys Episode 6 (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic)
- The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone (Jaclyn Moriarty, A&U)
- The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Rome (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
- The 91-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton, Pan)
Children’s picture book of the year (ages 0-6)
- Do Not Lick This Book (Idan Ben-Barak, illus by Julian Frost, A&U)
- Florette (Anna Walker, Viking)
- I Just Ate My Friend (Heidi McKinnon, A&U)
- I’m Australian Too (Mem Fox, illus by Ronojoy Ghosh, Scholastic)
- Mopoke (Philip Bunting, Scholastic)
- Pig the Star (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic)
- No One Likes a Fart (Zoë Foster Blake, Viking)
- The Bum Book (Kate Mayes, illus by Andrew Joyner, ABC Books)
- The Very Noisy Baby (Alison Lester, Affirm)
Illustrated book of the year
- Basics to Brilliance Kids (Donna Hay, Fourth Estate)
- Cornersmith: Salads and Pickles (Alex Elliott-Howery & Sabine Spindler, Murdoch Books)
- Hummus and Co (Michael Rantissi & Kristy Frawley, Murdoch Books)
- Maggie’s Recipe for Life (Maggie Beer & Professor Ralph Martins, S&S)
- Native: Art and Design with Australian Plants (Kate Herd & Jela Ivankovic-Waters, Thames & Hudson)
- Ostro (Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Plum)
- Paris: Through a Fashion Eye (Megan Hess, Hardie Grant Books)
- The Vegetable (Caroline Griffiths & Vicki Valsamis, Smith Street Books)
International book of the year
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman, HarperCollins)
- Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls (Elena Favilli & Francesa Cavallo, Particular Books)
- Here We Are: Notes For Living On Planet Earth (Oliver Jeffers, HarperCollins)
- Home Fire (Kamila Shamsie, Bloomsbury Circus)
- La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One (Philip Pullman, David Fickling Books)
- Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders, Bloomsbury)
- Mythos (Stephen Fry, Michael Joseph)
- The Sun and her Flowers (Rupi Kaur, S&S)
Small publishers’ adult book of the year
- Atlantic Black (A S Patric, Transit Lounge)
- Call of the Reed Warbler – A New Agriculture – A New Earth (Charles Massy, UQP)
- Cardinal (Louise Milligan, MUP)
- Journeys into the Wild: The Photography of Peter Dombrovskis (introduction & commentary by Bob Brown, NLA Publishing)
- The Australian Bird Guide (Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack & Kim Franklin, CSIRO Publishing)
- The Restorer (Michael Sala, Text)
- Museum of Words (Georgia Blain, Scribe)
- Mirror Sydney (Vanessa Berry, Giramondo)
Small publishers’ children’s book of the year
- At the Beach I See (Kamsani Bin Salleh, Magabala)
- At the Zoo I See (Joshua Button & Robyn Wells, Magabala)
- Big Fella Rain (Beryl Webber, illus by Fern Martins, Magabala)
- Hello, Melbourne! (Megan McKean, Thames & Hudson)
- It’s OK to Feel the Way You Do (Josh Langley, Big Sky Publishing)
- The Elephant (Peter Carnavas, UQP)
- Slow Down, World (Tai Snaith, Thames & Hudson)
- Under the Love Umbrella (Davina Bell & Allison Colpoys, Scribble)
The Matt Richell award for new writer of the year
- Australia Day (Melanie Cheng, Text)
- Nevermoor (Jessica Townsend, Lothian)
- See What I Have Done (Sarah Schmidt, Hachette)
- Terra Nullius (Claire G Coleman, Hachette)
- The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club (Sophie Green, Hachette)
- The Girl from Munich (Tania Blanchard, S&S)
- The Last Man in Europe: A Novel (Dennis Glover, Black Inc.)
- The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster (Sarah Krasnostein, Text)
- Wimmera (Mark Brandi, Hachette)
The longlist was voted on by the ABIA Academy, which, after a recent recruitment campaign, is the biggest in ABIA history, comprising more than 250 members. A panel of industry experts will select the shortlists, which will be announced on 19 April. The winners will be announced on 3 May at a ceremony at the Sydney International Convention Centre.
The ABIAs celebrate the ‘best books of the year, well published’. For more information, visit the ABIA website.
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