ABIA 2022 shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2022 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) have been announced.

The shortlisted books in each category are:

General fiction book of the year

• When Things Are Alive They Hum (Hannah Bent, Ultimo)
• Before You Knew My Name (Jacqueline Bublitz, A&U)
• Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (Anita Heiss, S&S)
• The Younger Wife (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)
• Apples Never Fall (Liane Moriarty, Macmillan) 

Literary fiction book of the year

• Wild Abandon (Emily Bitto, A&U)
• Devotion (Hannah Kent, Picador)
• Love Objects (Emily Maguire, A&U)
• The Truth About Her (Jacqueline Maley, HarperCollins)
• Love & Virtue (Diana Reid, Ultimo)

General nonfiction book of the year

• Love Stories (Trent Dalton, HarperCollins)
• She’s on the Money (Victoria Devine, Penguin Life)
• Toxic: The rotting underbelly of the Tasmanian salmon industry (Richard Flanagan, Penguin)
• Heartsick: Three stories about love and loss, and what happens in between (Jessie Stephens, Macmillan)
• So You Think You Know What’s Good For You? (Norman Swan, Hachette)

Biography book of the year

• The Mother Wound (Amani Haydar, Macmillan)
• Emotional Female (Yumiko Kadota, Viking)
• Turns Out, I’m Fine (Judith Lucy, Scribner)
• My Adventurous Life (Dick Smith, A&U)
• It Wasn’t Meant to be Like This (Lisa Wilkinson, HarperCollins)

Book of the year for older children (ages 13+)

• The Gaps (Leanne Hall, Text)
• The Boy from the Mish (Gary Lonesborough, A&U)
• Anything but Fine (Tobias Madden, Penguin)
• The Prison Healer (Lynette Noni, Penguin)
• Welcome to Consent (Yumi Stynes & Melissa Kang, HGCP)

Book of the year for younger children (ages 7–12) 

• The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature (Sami Bayly, Hachette)
• Dragon Skin (Karen Foxlee, A&U)
• Exit Through the Gift Shop (Maryam Master, illus by Astred Hicks, Pan)
• Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
• The First Scientists: Deadly inventions and innovations from Australia’s First Peoples (Corey Tutt, Hardie Grant Explore)

Children’s picture book of the year (ages 0–6)

• Somebody’s Land: Welcome to our Country (Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing, illus by David Hardy, A&U)
• Day Break (Amy McQuire & Matt Chun, Bright Light)
• Bedtime Sorted (Jimmy Rees, illus by Briony Steward, Affirm)
• Boss of Your Own Body (Byll & Beth Stephen, illus by Simon Howe, HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• Winner Winner Bin Chicken Dinner (Kate & Jol Temple, illus by Ronojoy Ghosh, Scholastic) 

Illustrated book of the year 

• You’re Doing it Wrong: A history of bad and bonkers advice to women (Kaz Cooke, Viking)
• Still Life (Amber Creswell Bell, T&H)
• Costa’s World (Costa Georgiadis, ABC Books)
• Death to Jar Sauce (Nat’s What I Reckon, Ebury)
• Everything I Love to Cook (Neil Perry, Murdoch Books)

International book of the year

• The Storyteller (Dave Grohl, S&S)
• Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf love (Yotam Ottolenghi & Noor Murad, Ebury)
• These Previous Days (Ann Patchett, Bloomsbury)
• Beautiful World, Where Are You (Sally Rooney, Faber)
• Still Life (Sarah Winman, HarperCollins)

Small publishers’ adult book of the year

• Dropbear (Evelyn Araluen, UQP)
• Black and Blue: A memoir of racism and resilience (Veronica Gorrie, Scribe)
• Caught in the Act (Shane Jenek, Pantera Press)
• The Game: A portrait of Scott Morrison (Sean Kelly, Black Inc.)
• Wild Mushrooming: A guide for foragers (Alison Pouliot & Tom May, CSIRO)

Small publishers’ children’s book of the year

• Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day (Davina Bell, illus by Allison Colpoys, Scribble)
• Kunyi (Kunyi June Anne McInerney, Magabala)
• Albert Namatjira (Vincent Namatjira, Magabala)
• Let’s Eat Weeds (Annie Raser-Rowland & Adam Grubb, illus by Evie Barrow, Scribble)
• The Edge of Thirteen (Nova Weetman, UQP)

Audiobook of the year

• Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (Anita Heiss, narrated by Tamala Shelton, Network Ten, S&S)
• Emotional Female (Yumiko Kadota, narrated by Yumiko Kadota, PRH)
• Devotion (Hannah Kent, narrated by Emily Wheaton, Pan Macmillan)
• Spanian: The unfiltered hoodlife (Spanian, with Christopher Kevin Au, narrated by Spanian, with Amos Phillips, Squaresound, Hachette)
• The Performance (Claire Thomas, narrated by Edwina Wren et al., Squaresound, Hachette)

The Matt Richell award for new writer of the year

• When Things Are Alive They Hum (Hannah Bent, Ultimo)
• Before You Knew My Name (Jacqueline Bublitz, A&U)
• The Mother Wound (Amani Haydar, Macmillan)
• The Truth About Her (Jacqueline Maley, HarperCollins)
• Love & Virtue (Diana Reid, Ultimo).

The shortlisted titles, chosen from longlists announced in March, were selected by the ABIA Academy, which comprises over 250 industry representatives.

The recipients of the Lloyd O’Neill Hall of Fame Award for outstanding service to the Australian book industry, Pixie O’Harris Award for consistent contribution to children’s literature, the Rising Star Award for emerging talent in the publishing industry, and the Business Awards shortlist will be announced on Tuesday, 31 May.

The winners in each category will be announced at the ABIA awards ceremony at the International Convention Centre in Sydney on Thursday, 9 June. The event will be hosted by Alinta Chidzey, who will be joined by Wendy Whiteley, The Wiggles, Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing, Michelle Law, and Peter FitzSimons, among others, to present the awards.

For more information about the awards and for tickets to the ceremony, see the the ABIA website.

Category: Awards Local news