NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2020 shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced.

The shortlisted titles in each category are:

Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000) 

• The White Girl (Tony Birch, UQP)
• The Palace of Angels (Mohammed Massoud Morsi, Wild Dingo Press)
• The Electric Hotel (Dominic Smith, A&U)
• Exploded View (Carrie Tiffany, Text)
• Wolfe Island (Lucy Treloar, Picador)
• The Yield (Tara June Winch, Hamish Hamilton) 

Douglas Stewart Prize for Nonfiction ($40,000)

• The Seventies (Michelle Arrow, NewSouth)
• The Enchantment of the Long-haired Rat: A rodent history of Australia (Tim Bonyhady, Text)
• Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the future (Alice Gorman, NewSouth)
• Australianama: The South Asian odyssey in Australia (Samia Khatun UQP)
• Tiberius with a Telephone: The life and stories of William McMahon (Patrick Mullins, Scribe)
• The World Was Whole (Fiona Wright, Giramondo)

Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry ($30,000) 

• Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness (Peter Boyle, Vagabond Press)
• apparently (Joanne Burns, Giramondo)
• After the Demolition (Zenobia Frost, Cordite)
• Empirical (Lisa Gorton, Giramondo)
• Archival-Poetics (Natalie Harkin, Vagabond Press)
• An Open Book (David Malouf, UQP) 

Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature ($30,000)

• Detention (Tristan Bancks, Puffin)
• One Tree (Bruce Whatley, illus by Christopher Cheng, Puffin)
• Catch a Falling Star (Meg McKinlay, Walker)
• Wilam: A Birrarung Story (Aunty Joy Murphy & Andrew Kelly, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Black Dog Books)
• Young Dark Emu (Bruce Pascoe, Magabala)
• Ella and the Ocean (Lian Tanner illus by Jonathan Bentley, A&U)

Ethel Turner Prize for Young Adult’s Literature ($30,000)

• How it Feels to Float (Helena Fox, Pan)
• Lenny’s Book of Everything (Karen Foxlee, A&U)
• The Little Wave (Pip Harry, UQP)
• It Sounded Better in My Head (Nina Kenwood, Text)
• This Is How We Change the Ending (Vikki Wakefield, Text)
• Impossible Music (Sean Williams, A&U)

Multicultural NSW Award ($20,000)

• Growing Up African in Australia (ed by Maxine Beneba Clarke, Black Inc.)
• Room for a Stranger (Melanie Cheng, Text)
• White Tears/Brown Scars (Ruby Hamad, MUP)
• Australianama: The South Asian Odyssey in Australia (Samia Khatun, UQP)
• The Pillars (Peter Polites, Hachette)
• The Lost Arabs (Omar Sakr, UQP)

NSW Premier’s Prize for Indigenous writing (biennial award of $30,000)

• Alfred’s War (Rachel Bin Salleh, illus by Samantha Fry, Magabala)
• The White Girl (Tony Birch, UQP)
• Too Much Lip (Melissa Lucashenko, UQP)

UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing ($5000) 

• Lucky Ticket (Joey Bui, Text)
• Dolores (Lauren Aimee Curtis, W&N)
• An-Tan-Tiri Mogodan: Short stories (Florina Enache, Adelaide Books)
• The House of Youssef (Yumna Kassab, Giramondo)
• Little Stones (Elizabeth Kuiper, UQP)
• Real Differences (S L Lim, Transit Lounge)

Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting ($30,000)

• ‘Banging Denmark’ (Van Badham, Sydney Theatre Company)
• ‘The Feather in the Web’ (Nick Coyle, Griffin Theatre Company)
• ‘The Mares’ (Kate Mulvany, Tasmanian Theatre Company)
• ‘THEM’ (Samah Sabawi and Lara Week, in collaboration with La Mama Courthouse)
• ‘Counting and Cracking’ (S Shakthidharan and associate writer Eamon Flack, Belvoir and Co-curious)
• ‘City of Gold’ (Meyne Wyatt, Queensland Theatre) 

Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting ($30,000) 

• On the Ropes episode 1 (Tamara Asmar, Lingo Pictures)
• Missing (Kylie Bolton, SBS)
• H is for Happiness (Lisa Hoppe, Happiness Film Productions)
• The Cry episode 2 (Jacqueline Peske, Synchronicity Films)
• Buoyancy (Rodd Rathjen, Causeway Films).

The winners will be announced on 29 April. Voting for the People’s Choice Award is open now.

For more information on the awards, see the State Library of NSW website.

Category: Awards Local news