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The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) longlist for 2021 has been released, ahead of the shortlist announcement in April. Regular listeners of the So you want to be a writer podcast will recognise many of the names on the list, as the authors have featured as our Writers in Residence, generously sharing their insights about the writing life and advice for new authors.
According to the ABIA website, winners for the ABIAs are determined through a process of selection, first by the ABIA Academy of more than 200 industry professionals, and then a shortlist and winners are chosen by judging panels. They are one of the most prestigious awards in Australia, showcasing the collaborative efforts of publishers, editors, illustrators, marketers, designers, and authors in bringing quality books to Australia and abroad.
We’re thrilled so many familiar names are on the longlist – hear from the authors and learn from their insights on each podcast episode below.
The awards are divided into 12 categories, spanning the entire publishing spectrum from picture books, to books for younger readers, fiction, non-fiction, biography and illustrated books. The shortlist will be released on Monday 12 April 2021 and the winners will be announced at an event on 28 April 2021.
The full longlist is:
Biography Book of the Year proudly presented by Borrowbox
A Bigger Picture, Malcolm Turnbull (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Books)
A Repurposed Life, Ronni Kahn with Jessica Chapnik Kahn (Allen & Unwin, Murdoch Books)
Boy on Fire: The Young Nick Cave, Mark Mordue (HarperCollins Publishers, Fourth Estate)
Fourteen, Shannon Molloy (Simon & Schuster Australia, Simon & Schuster Australia)
Paul Kelly, Stuart Coupe (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Hachette Australia)
Soar: A Life Freed by Dance, David McAllister with Amanda Dunn (Thames & Hudson Australia , Thames & Hudson Australia)
The Happiest Man on Earth, Eddie Jaku (Pan Macmillan Australia, Macmillan Australia)
Truganini, Cassandra Pybus (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)
Aurora Burning: The Aurora Cycle 2, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
Future Girl, Asphyxia (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
Jane Doe and the Key of All Souls, Jeremy Lachlan (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
Please Don’t Hug Me, Kay Kerr (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
The End of the World is Bigger than Love, Davina Bell (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
The F Team, Rawah Arja (Giramondo, Giramondo Publishing)
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
This One is Ours, Kate O’Donnell (University of Queensland Press, UQP)
Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-12)
Finding Our Heart, Thomas Mayor; Illustrated by Blak Douglas (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Travel)
Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow, Jessica Townsend (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Lothian Children’s Books)
The Grandest Bookshop in the World, Amelia Mellor (Affirm Press, Affirm Press)
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals, Sami Bayly (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Lothian Children’s Books)
The Year the Maps Changed, Danielle Binks (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Lothian Children’s Books)
Took The Children Away, Archie Roach; Illustrated by Ruby Hunter (Simon & Schuster Australia , Simon & Schuster Australia)
We Are Wolves, Katrina Nannestad (HarperCollins Publishers, ABC Books)
When Rain Turns to Snow, Jane Godwin (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Lothian Children’s Books)
Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)
Aunty’s Wedding, Miranda Tapsell, Joshua Tyler and Samantha Fry (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
Bluey: The Creek Bluey (Penguin Random House, Puffin)
Our Home, Our Heartbeat, Adam Briggs, Kate Moon and Rachael Sarra (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, Little Hare)
Respect, Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson; Illustrated by Lisa Kennedy (Magabala Books)
Sing Me the Summer, Jane Godwin and Alison Lester (Affirm Press, Affirm Press)
The Fire Wombat, Jackie French and Danny Snell (HarperCollins Publishers, HarperCollins Publishers)
When We Say Black Lives Matter, Maxine Beneba Clarke (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Lothian Children’s Books)
Windows, Jonathan Bentley and Patrick Guest (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, Little Hare)
General Fiction Book of the Year
The Bluffs, Kyle Perry (Penguin Random House, Michael Joseph)
The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams (Affirm Press, Affirm Press)
The Godmothers, Monica McInerney (Penguin Random House, Michael Joseph)
The Good Turn, Dervla McTiernan (HarperCollins Publishers, HarperCollins Publishers)
The Morbids, Ewa Ramsey (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
The Mother Fault, Kate Mildenhall (Simon & Schuster Australia, Simon & Schuster Australia)
The Survivors, Jane Harper (Pan Macmillan Australia, Macmillan Australia)
Trust, Chris Hammer (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
General Non-fiction Book of the Year proudly presented by Copyright Agency
Fire Country, Victor Steffensen (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Travel)
My Tidda, My Sister, Marlee Silva; Illustrated by Rachael Sarra (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Travel)
One Day I’ll Remember This: Diaries 1987–1995, Helen Garner (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark, Julia Baird (HarperCollins Publishers, Fourth Estate)
The Golden Maze: A biography of Prague, Richard Fidler (HarperCollins Publishers, ABC Books)
The Space Between, Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald (Penguin Random House, Viking)
Un-cook Yourself: A Ratbag’s Rules for Life, Nat’s What I Reckon (Penguin Random House, Ebury Australia)
Women and Leadership, Julia Gillard and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Penguin Random House, Vintage Australia)
Illustrated Book of the Year
A Year of Simple Family Food, Julia Busuttil Nishimura (Pan Macmillan Australia, Plum)
Beatrix Bakes, Natalie Paull (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Books)
In Praise of Veg, Alice Zaslavsky (Allen & Unwin, Murdoch Books)
Loving Country, Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Travel)
Places We Swim Sydney, Caroline Clements and Dillon Seitchik-Reardon (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Travel)
Plantopedia, Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan (Smith Street Books, Smith Street Books)
Sam Bloom: Heartache & Birdsong, Samantha Bloom, Cameron Bloom & Bradley Trevor Greive (HarperCollins Publishers, ABC Books)
To Asia, With Love, Hetty McKinnon (Pan Macmillan Australia, Plum)
International Book of the Year
A Life On Our Planet, David Attenborough (Penguin Random House, Ebury Press)
A Promised Land, Barack Obama (Penguin Random House, Viking)
Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Headline)
Ottolenghi FLAVOUR, Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage (Penguin Random House, Ebury Press)
Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart (Pan Macmillan Australia, Picador)
Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid (Bloomsbury Publishing, Bloomsbury Circus)
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Dialogue Books)
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty, Florence Given (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Cassell)
Literary Fiction Book of the Year
A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, Jessie Tu (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
A Room Made of Leaves, Kate Grenville (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton (HarperCollins Publishers, Fourth Estate)
Honeybee, Craig Silvey (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
Infinite Splendours, Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
Song of the Crocodile, Nardi Simpson (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Hachette Australia)
Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason (HarperCollins Publishers, Fourth Estate)
The Last Migration, Charlotte McConaghy (Penguin Random House, Hamish Hamilton)
Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year
Glimpses of Utopia: Real ideas for a fairer world, Jess Scully (Pantera Press, Pantera Press)
Living on Stolen Land, Ambelin Kwaymullina (Magabala Books)
Stone Sky Gold Mountain, Mirandi Riwoe (University of Queensland Press, UQP)
The Animals in That Country, Laura Jean McKay (Scribe Publications, Scribe Publications)
The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
What Is To Be Done: political engagement and saving the planet, Barry Jones (Scribe Publications, Scribe Publications)
Where the Fruit Falls, Karen Wyld (UWA Publishing, UWA Publishing)
Yornadaiyn Woolagoodja, Yornadaiyn Woolagoodja (Magabala Books)
Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year
Anemone is not the Enemy, Anna McGregor (Scribe Publications, Scribble)
Bindi, Kirli Saunders; Illustrated by Dub Leffler (Magabala Books)
Claudette, Helene Magisson (Red Paper Kite, Red Paper Kite)
Family, Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson; Illustrated by Jasmine Seymour (Magabala Books)
Found, Bruce Pascoe and Charmaine Ledden-Lewis (Magabala Books)
Howl, Kat Patrick; Illustrated by Evie Barrow (Scribe Publications, Scribble)
Metal Fish, Falling Snow, Cath Moore (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
My Shadow is Pink, Scott Stuart (Larrikin House Publishing, Larrikin House)
The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year proudly presented by Simpsons Solicitors
A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, Jessie Tu (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
Lucky’s, Andrew Pippos (Pan Macmillan Australia, Picador Australia)
My Tidda, My Sister, Marlee Silva; Illustrated by Rachael Sarra (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Travel)
Song of the Crocodile, Nardi Simpson (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Hachette Australia)
The Coconut Children, Vivian Pham (Penguin Random House, Vintage Australia)
The Grandest Bookshop in the World, Amelia Mellor (Affirm Press, Affirm Press)
The Happiest Man on Earth, Eddie Jaku (Pan Macmillan Australia, Macmillan Australia)
The Morbids, Ewa Ramsey (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin).
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