ABIA 2023 shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) have been announced.

The shortlisted books in each category, including the new category of social impact book of the year, are:

General fiction book of the year

• Dirt Town (Hayley Scrivenor, Macmillan)
• The Tilt (Chris Hammer, A&U)
• Exiles (Jane Harper, Macmillan)
• Day’s End (Garry Disher, Text)
• Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone (Benjamin Stevenson, Michael Joseph)

Literary fiction book of the year

• All That’s Left Unsaid (Tracey Lien, HQ Fiction)
• The Sun Walks Down (Fiona McFarlane, A&U)
• Horse (Geraldine Brooks, Hachette)
• Seeing Other People (Diana Reid, Ultimo Press)
• Limberlost (Robbie Arnott, Text)

General nonfiction book of the year

• Reasons Not to Worry (Brigid Delaney, A&U)
• The Space Between the Stars (Indira Naidoo, Murdoch Books)
• Bedtime Story (Chloe Hooper, Scribner)
• Bulldozed (Niki Savva, Scribe)
• Investing with She’s on the Money (Victoria Devine, Penguin Life)

Biography book of the year

• My Dream Time (Ash Barty, HarperCollins)
• Ten Steps to Nanette (Hannah Gadsby, A&U)
• The Boy from Boomerang Crescent (Eddie Betts, S&S)
• Heartstrong (Ellidy Pullin, Hachette)
• The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner (Grace Tame, Macmillan)

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

• If You Could See the Sun (Ann Liang, HQ Young Adult)
• The Jammer (Nova Weetman, UQP)
• Blood Traitor (Lynette Noni, Penguin)
• Unnecessary Drama (Nina Kenwood, Text)
• Sugar (Carly Nugent, Text)

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

• The Bookseller’s Apprentice (Amelia Mellor, Affirm)
• Guardians: Wylah the Koorie Warrior 1 (Jordan Gould & Richard Pritchard, Albert Street Books)
• A Girl Called Corpse: An Elston-Fright Tale (Reece Carter, illus by Simon Howe, A&U)
• Runt (Craig Silvey, illus by Sara Acton, A&U)
• Waiting for the Storks (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)

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

• What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say (Davina Bell & Hilary Jean Tapper, Lothian)
• Floof (Heidi McKinnon, Albert Street Books)
• Ceremony: Welcome to Our Country (Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing, illus by David
• Hardy, A&U)
• Be Careful, Xiao Xin! (Alice Pung & Sher Rill Ng, Working Title)
• Miimi Marraal, Mother Earth (Melissa Greenwood, ABC Books)

Illustrated book of the year

• First Nations Food Companion (Damien Coulthard & Rebecca Sullivan, Murdoch Books)
• Lune (Kate Reid, Hardie Grant)
• Cressida Campbell (National Gallery of Australia)
• Yiayia Next Door (Daniel and Luke Mancuso, Plum)
• RecipeTin Eats: Dinner (Nagi Maehashi, Macmillan)

International book of the year

• The Marriage Portrait (Maggie O’Farrell, Headline)
• Young Mungo (Douglas Stuart, Picador)
• The Bullet That Missed (Richard Osman, Viking UK)
• Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus, Doubleday UK)
• Stolen Focus (Johann Hari, Bloomsbury)

Small publishers’ adult book of the year

• Humanity’s Moment (Joëlle Gergis (Black Inc.)
• Cold Enough for Snow (Jessica Au, Giramondo)
• The Dreaming Path (Paul Callaghan, Pantera)
• Tell Me Again (Amy Thunig, UQP)
• Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary (Mary Laughren, Kenneth Hale, Jeannie Nungarrayi Egan, Marlurrku Paddy Patrick Jangala, Robert Hoogenraad, David Nash & Jane Simpson, Aboriginal Studies Press)

Small publishers’ children’s book of the year

• My Shadow is Purple (Scott Stuart, Larrikin House)
• Koori Princess (Anita Heiss, Magabala)
• A Tiny Light (Alison Lester, UQP)
• Off to the Market (Alice Oehr, Scribble)
• The Brink (Holden Sheppard, Text)

Social impact book of the year

• Come Together (Isaiah Firebrace, illus by Jaelyn Biumaiwai, HG Explore)
• How Many More Women (Jennifer Robinson & Keina Yoshida, A&U)
• The Boy from Boomerang Crescent (Eddie Betts, S&S)
• Not Now, Not Ever (Julia Gillard, Vintage)
• Freedom, Only Freedom (Behrouz Boochani, Bloomsbury Academic)

Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year

• Tell Me Again (Amy Thunig, UQP)
• WAKE (Shelley Burr, Australia)
• Dirt Town (Hayley Scrivenor, Macmillan)
• The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner (Grace Tame, Macmillan)
• Root & Branch: Essays on inheritance (Eda Gunaydin, NewSouth)
• All That’s Left Unsaid (Tracey Lien, HQ Fiction)

Audiobook of the year

• Ten Steps to Nanette (narrated by Hannah Gadsby, Wavesound)
• Life: What Nat to Do: A hot take on advice you never asked for (narrated by Nat’s What I Reckon, PRH Audio)
• The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner (narrated by Grace Tame, Macmillan Audio)
• Lisa (narrated by Lisa Curry, HarperAudio)
• The Whitewash (Siang Lu, Wavesound).

The winners will be announced alongside the winners of the ABIA business awards at a gala dinner in Sydney on Thursday, 25 May. The shortlists for the business awards, including two new categories, will be announced on 9 May.

The winner of last year’s ABIA book of the year was Diana Reid’s Love & Virtue (Ultimo).

Category: Awards Local news