2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards
Winners of the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards
The Victorian Prize for Literature, and the Prize for Non-Fiction
No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani (Picador Australia)
The Prize for Fiction
The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise Valmorbida (Faber & Faber)
The Prize for Drama
The Almighty Sometimes by Kendall Feaver (Currency Press, in association with Griffin Theatre Company)
The Prize for Poetry
Tilt by Kate Lilley (Vagabond Press)
The Prize for Writing for Young Adults
Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (Allen & Unwin)
The Prize for Indigenous Writing
Taboo by Kim Scott (Picador Australia)
The Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript
Kokomo by Victoria Hannan
People’s Choice Award
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)
The Shortlist
FICTION
Flames by Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing)
Ironbark by Jay Carmichael (Scribe Publications)
The Fireflies of Autumn: And Other Tales of San Ginese by Moreno Giovannoni (Black Inc. Books)
The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones (Text Publishing)
Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)
The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise Valmorbida (Faber & Faber)
NON-FICTION
No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani (Picador Australia)
Staying: A Memoir by Jessie Cole (Text Publishing)
The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire by Chloe Hooper (Penguin Random House Australia)
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)
Miss Ex-Yugoslavia by Sofija Stefanovic (Penguin Random House Australia)
Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin (Brow Books)
DRAMA
The Almighty Sometimes by Kendall Feaver (Currency Press, in association with Griffin Theatre Company)
Going Down by Michele Lee (Malthouse Theatre)
Barbara and the Camp Dogs by Ursula Yovich and Alana Valentine (Currency Press, in association with Belvoir)
POETRY
Flood Damages by Eunice Andrada (Giramondo Publishing)
Tilt by Kate Lilley (Vagabond Press)
Milk Teeth by Rae White (University of Queensland Press)
WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough (Hardie Grant Egmont)
Between Us by Clare Atkins (Black Inc. Books)
Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (Allen & Unwin)
INDIGENOUS WRITING
Common People by Tony Birch (University of Queensland Press)
Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)
Taboo by Kim Scott (Picador Australia)
Blakwork by Alison Whittaker (Magabala Books)
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT
Wedding Cake Island by John Byron
Kokomo by Victoria Hannan
Frontier Sport by Wayne Marshall
Highly Commended
FICTION
Pink Mountain on Locust Island by Jamie Marina Lau (Brow Books)
NON-FICTION
Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia by Billy Griffiths (Black Inc. Books)
One Hundred Years of Dirt by Rick Morton (Melbourne University Publishing)
Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home by Sisonke Msimang (Text Publishing)
Small Wrongs: How we really say sorry in love, life and law by Kate Rossmanith (Hardie Grant Books)
DRAMA
Lethal Indifference by Anna Barnes (Sydney Theatre Company)
In the Club by Patricia Cornelius (State Theatre Company of South Australia)
POETRY
Body of Work by Elena Gomez (Cordite Publishing)
Subtraction by Fiona Hile (Vagabond Press)
Blakwork by Alison Whittaker (Magabala Books)
YOUNG ADULT
After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson (Allen & Unwin)
Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza (Penguin Random House Australia)
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT
The Fogging by Luke Horton
This Wasn’t Meant To Be Me by Allee Richards
The Judges
FICTION
Jackie Tang, Abigail Ulman, Chris Womersley, Elizabeth McCarthy (convenor)
NON-FICTION
Dennis Altman, Fatima Measham, Sonia Nair, Bhakthi Puvanenthiran, Jordy Silverstein (convenor)
DRAMA
Tim Byrne, Samah Sabawi, Alison Croggon (convenor)
POETRY
Broede Carmody, Lia Incognita, Gig Ryan (convenor)
WRITING FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Melissa Keil, Nevo Zisin, Leanne Hall (convenor)
INDIGENOUS WRITING
Genevieve Grieves, Mark McMillan, Jane Harrison (convenor)
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT
Jaclyn Crupi, JP Pomare, Elizabeth Flux (convenor)
The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards were inaugurated by the Victorian Government in 1985 to honour literary achievement by Australian writers. The awards are administered by the Wheeler Centre on behalf of the Premier of Victoria.