Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2018
The winners
- The Victorian Prize for Literature, and the Prize for Non-Fiction: The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster by Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing)
- The Prize for Fiction: Australia Day by Melanie Cheng (Text Publishing)
- The Prize for Drama: Rice by Michele Lee (Playlab)
- The Prize for Poetry: Argosy by Bella Li (Vagabond Press)
- The Prize for Writing for Young Adults: Living on Hope Street by Demet Divaroren (Allen & Unwin)
- People’s Choice Award: Ida by Alison Evans (Echo)
The judges
Fiction: Jeanine Leane, Jaclyn Crupi, Tamara Zimet, Thuy On (convener)
Non-fiction: Quinn Eades, Jack Latimore, David Ryding, Jordy Silverstein, Sophie Cunnigham (convener)
Drama: Chris Kohn, Edwina Lunn, Jane Harrison (convener)
Poetry: Gig Ryan, Benjamin Laird, Emilie Zoey Baker (convener)
Writing for Young Adults: Alia Gabres, Jordi Kerr, Marlee Jane Ward (convener)
Submissions from publishers and writers are open in September each year for titles published between 1 January and 31 December of the same year.
Tweet about the shortlisted titles using the #vpla2018 hashtag.
The shortlist
Fiction
- A New England Affair by Steven Carroll (HarperCollins)
- Australia Day by Melanie Cheng (Text Publishing)
- The Life to Come by Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin)
- The Choke by Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin)
- The Restorer by Michael Sala (Text Publishing)
- Taboo by Kim Scott (Picador Australia)
Non-fiction
- The Museum of Words: A Memoir of Language, Writing and Mortality by Georgia Blain (Scribe Publications)
- Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness by Kate Cole-Adams (Text Publishing)
- The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster by Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing)
- For a Girl: A True Story of Secrets, Motherhood and Hope by Mary-Rose MacColl (Allen & Unwin)
- No Way But This: In Search of Paul Robeson by Jeff Sparrow (Scribe Publications)
- Tracker by Alexis Wright (Giramondo)
Drama
- Rice by Michele Lee (Playlab)
- Black is the New White by Nakkiah Lui (Sydney Theatre Company)
- The Rasputin Affair by Kate Mulvany (The Ensemble Theatre)
Poetry
- Argosy by Bella Li (Vagabond Press)
- The Metronome by Jennifer Maiden (Giramondo)
- redactor by Eddie Paterson (Whitmore Press)
Writing for Young Adults
- Living on Hope Street by Demet Divaroren (Allen & Unwin)
- Ida by Alison Evans (Echo)
- Because of You by Pip Harry (UQP)
Highly commended
Fiction
- No More Boats by Felicity Castagna (Giramondo)
- Terra Nullius by Claire Coleman (Hachette)
- Atlantic Black by A.S. Patrić (Transit Lounge)
- Plane Tree Drive by Lynette Washington (MidnightSun)
Non-fiction
- They Cannot Take the Sky: Stories from Detention edited by Michael Green, André Dao, Angelica Neville, Dana Affleck and Sienna Merope (Allen & Unwin)
Poetry
- I Love Poetry by Michael Farrell (Giramondo)
- Reading for a Quiet Morning by Petra White (GloriaSMH Press)
Young Adult
- In the Dark Spaces by Cally Black (Hardie Grant Egmont)