Victorian Premier's Literary Awards
The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary prize with the top winner receiving A$125,000 and category winners A$25,000 each.[1]
They were established in 1985 by John Cain, the Premier of Victoria at that time, to mark the centenary of the births of Vance and Nettie Palmer, two of Australia's best-known writers and critics who both made significant contributions to Victorian and Australian literary culture.
From 1986 through till 1997 they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival.
In 1997 the administration of the awards was transferred to the State Library of Victoria.[2] By 2004 the award's total prize money was A$180,000.
In 2011 stewardship was taken over by the Wheeler Centre.
Winners 2011-present
Beginning in 2011,[3] the awards were restructured into 5 categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Drama and Young People's. The winner of each receives $25,000. Of those 5 winners, one is chosen as the overall winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature and receives an additional $100,000. Further, there are two other categories with different prize amounts: An honorary People's Choice Award voted on by readers. And a Unpublished Manuscript Award with a prize amount of $15,000.[1]
Shortlists are maintained in the main article for each category.
Victorian Prize for Literature
- 2011 Kim Scott, That Deadman Dance[4]
- 2012 Bill Gammage, The Biggest Estate on Earth[5]
- 2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on year of publication.
- 2014 Jennifer Maiden, Liquid Nitrogen[6]
- 2015 Alan Atkinson, The Europeans in Australia: Volume Three: Nation[7]
- 2016 Mary Anne Butler, Broken[8]
Fiction
- 1985-2010 see Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction
- 2011 Kim Scott, That Deadman Dance
- 2012 Gillian Mears, Foal's Bread
- 2013 No award
- 2014 Alex Miller, Coal Creek
- 2015 Rohan Wilson, To Name Those Lost
- 2016 Mireille Juchau, The World Without Us
Nonfiction
- 1990-2010 see Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction
- 2011 Mark McKenna, An Eye for Eternity: The Life Of Manning Clark
- 2012 Bill Gammage, The Biggest Estate on Earth
- 2013 No award
- 2014 Henry Reynolds, Forgotten War
- 2015 Alan Atkinson, The Europeans in Australia: Volume Three: Nation
- 2016 Gerald Murnane, Something for the Pain
Poetry
- 1985-2010 see C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry
- 2011 Cate Kennedy, The Taste of River Water
- 2012 John Kinsella, Armour
- 2013 No award
- 2014 Jennifer Maiden, Liquid Nitrogen
- 2015 Jill Jones, The Beautiful Anxiety
- 2016 Alan Loney, Crankhandle
Writing for Young Adults
- 1999-2010 see Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction
- 2011 Cassandra Golds, The Three Loves of Persimmon
- 2012 John Larkin, The Shadow Girl
- 2013 No award
- 2014 Barry Jonsberg, My Life as an Alphabet
- 2015 Claire Zorn, The Protected
- 2016 Marlee Jane Ward, Welcome to Orphancorp
Drama
- 2010 earlier see Louis Esson Prize for Drama
- 2011 Patricia Cornelius, Do not go gentle…
- 2012 Lally Katz, A Golem Story
- 2013 No award
- 2014 Patricia Cornelius, Savages
- 2015 Angus Cerini, Resplendence
- 2016 Mary Anne Butler, Broken
People's Choice Award
- 2011 Anna Krien, Into The Woods: The Battle for Tasmania's Forests[4]
- 2012 Aidan Fennessy, National Interest[5]
- 2013 Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013
- 2014 Hannah Kent, Burial Rites[6]
- 2015 Tim Low, Where Song Began
- 2016 Miles Allinson, Fever of Animals
Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award
- 2003-2010 see main article
- 2011 No award
- 2012 Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Project
- 2013 Maxine Beneba Clarke, Foreign Soil
- 2014 Miles Allinson, Fever of Animals
- 2015 Jane Harper, The Dry
Defunct award categories (1985-2010)
From 1985 to 2010 prizes were offered in some or all of the below categories.
- Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction
- Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction
- Prize for Young Adult Fiction
- C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry
- Louis Esson Prize for Drama
- Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate
- Prize for Science Writing (biennial)
- Village Roadshow Prize for Screen Writing
- Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize for Writing about Italians in Australia
- John Curtin Prize for Journalism
- Prize for Best Music Theatre Script
- Prize for Indigenous Writing (Biennial)
- Prize for a First Book of History (Biennial)
- Dinny O'Hearn Prize for Literary Translation. (Triennial)
See also
Notes
- 1 2 Jason Steger (January 28, 2014). "Liquid Nitrogen poet Jennifer Maiden wins Australia's richest literature prize". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.slv.vic.gov.au
- ↑ Zora Sanders (April 21, 2011). "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards to be the Richest in Australia". Meanjin. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
- 1 2 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2011". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
- 1 2 "21 big names. One big decision. Start reading.". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
- 1 2 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2014". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
- ↑ "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2015". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2016". Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2016.