Australian Book Design Awards 2023 shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2023 Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced.

Among the category shortlists are:

Best Designed Commercial Fiction Cover

• Love and Other Puzzles (Kimberley Allsop, HarperCollins), designed by Mark Campbell
• All That’s Left Unsaid (Tracey Lien, HQ), designed by Hazel Lam
• Her Fidelity (Katherine Pollock, Vintage), designed by Christa Moffitt

Best Designed Literary Fiction/Poetry Cover

• Salonika Burning (Gail Jones, Text), designed by W H Chong
• Fever (Jonathan Bazzi, Scribe), designed by Allison Colpoys
• Horse (Geraldine Brooks, Hachette), designed by Sandy Cull
• The Lovers (Yumma Kassab, Ultimo), designed by Mika Tabata
• Other Houses (Paddy O’Reilly, Affirm), designed by Sandy Cull
• Son of Sin (Omar Sakr, Affirm), designed by Amy Daoud

Best Designed Nonfiction Cover

• The Nerves and their Endings (Jessica Gaitan Johannesson, Scribe), designed by Allison Colpoys
• It’s a Shame About Ray (Jonathan Seidler, A&U), designed by Josh Durham
• Childhood (Shannon Burns, Text), designed by W H Chong
• Don’t Look Away (Danielle Laidley, HarperCollins), designed by George Saad

Emerging Designer of the Year

• Jenna Lee for Drop Bear (Evelyn Araluen, UQP), Galang (Brook Garru Andrew et al, Powerhouse Publishing), Unlimited Futures (Rafeif IsmailEllen van Neerven, Fremantle Press), Whisper Songs (Tony Birch, UQP)
• Mietta Yans for Dogphabet (Harper by Design), No Hard Feelings (Genevieve Novak, HarperCollins), Pretend You’re in Tokyo (Michelle Mackintosh, Harper by Design) and Wise Words from Bookish Women (Harper by Design).

In their 71st year, the awards celebrate the ‘best and brightest, most original and beautiful designs of the past year’.

The longlists were announced in March. To see the shortlists in all categories, visit the ABDA website.

The winners, including for book of the year, cover of the year and designers’ choice, will be announced at the awards ceremony on 26 May at Rose of Australia in Sydney.

Category: Awards Local news