2026 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards
2026 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards Shortlist
Your definitive guide to Australia’s best writing.
The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were inaugurated by the State government in 1985 to honour Australian writing. The Wheeler Centre is proud to administer the Awards on behalf of the Premier of Victoria.
Learn more about the shortlisted and highly commended works below.
FICTION
A Piece of Red Cloth
Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubb, Leonie Norrington, Djawa Burarrwanga and Djawundil Maymuru
Allen & Unwin
Highly Commended
Desolation
Asgari Hossein
Ultimo Press
Discipline
Randa Abdel-Fattah
University of Queensland Press
The Slip
Miriam Webster
Aniko Press
NON-FICTION
INDIGENOUS WRITING
The Art of Kaylene Whiskey: Do You Believe in Love?
Kaylene Whiskey and Natalie King OAM
Thames and Hudson Australia
Highly Commended
A Savage Turn
Luke Patterson
Magabala Books
Old Days Imanka nurna laakinha nitjaarta
Marjorie ‘Nunga’ Williams
Magabala Books
Weaving Country
Aunty Kim Wandin, Christine Joy and Ashleigh Pugh
Walker Books Australia
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Highly Commended
My Mum is a Bird
Angie Cui and Evie Barrow
University of Queensland Press
Spirit of the Crocodile
Aaron Fa'aoso, Lyn White and Michelle Scott Tucker
Allen & Unwin
DRAMA
Super
Emilie Collyer
Currency Press & Red Stitch Actors' Theatre
Developed and produced through the INK new writing program at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre
The Black Woman of Gippsland
Andrea James
Currency Press & Melbourne Theatre Company
The Black Woman of Gippsland was commissioned and developed through Melbourne Theatre Company’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program, with the support of our Playwrights Giving Circle
POETRY
Highly Commended
Fivehundred Swimming Pools
Connor Weightman
Rabbit Poetry
The Dingo’s Noctuary
Judith Nangala Crispin
Puncher and Wattmann
JOHN MARSDEN PRIZE FOR WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Highly Commended
Strange Bedfellows
Ariel Ries
HarperCollins
Weaving Us Together
Lay Maloney
Hachette Australia
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT
Highly Commended
Harmony
Ethan Garraway
More Real
Ella Mittas
The 2026 Judges
Fiction
Mel Fulton, Edwina Preston, Marina Sano, Elizabeth McCarthy (convenor)
Non-Fiction
Broede Carmody, Sam Elkin, Jordana Silverstein, Cher Tan, Jonathan Green (convenor)
Indigenous Writing
Tristen Harwood, Thomas Mayo, Bridget Caldwell-Bright (convenor)
Children's Literature
Kristin Darell, Judith Rossell, Denise Chapman (convenor)
Drama
Jane Harrison, Samah Sabawi, Vidya Rajan (convenor)
Poetry
Manisha Anjali, Izzy Roberts-Orr, Susie Anderson (convenor)
John Marsden Prize for Writing for Young Adults
Karys McEwan, Nevo Zisin, Bec Kavanagh (convenor)
Unpublished Manuscript
Kanika Chopra, Rhett Davis, Adalya Nash Hussein (convenor)
The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards are proudly supported by the Victorian Government.
