Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature 2020 shortlist announced

Thirty seven writers have been shortlisted in the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature.

This is a highly prestigious award with $167,000 of prize money up for grabs. The prize began in 1986 with previous winners including Tim Winton, Helen Garner, Richard Flanagan and Gail Jones.

We’re cheering extra loud for our AWC alumna, Tamsin Janu – whose book Winston and the Wondrous Wooba Gymnastics Club is shortlisted in the Children’s Literature category. (Read more about Tamsin’s path from writing course to published author).

This year’s winners will be announced on the 29th February 2020 as part of the 2020 Adelaide Festival.

And without further ado, the shortlist (from the media release) is below: 

Children’s Literature Award ($15,000)

• The Elephant by Peter Carnavas (QLD) (University of Queensland Press)
• The House on the Mountain by Ella Holcombe (VIC) (Allen & Unwin)
• Mallee Sky by Jodi Toering (VIC) (Walker Books Australia)
• Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (QLD) (Hachette Australia)
• Winston and the Wondrous Wooba Gymnastics Club by Tamsin Janu (NSW) (Scholastic Australia)
• Young Dark Emu: A truer history by Bruce Pascoe (VIC) (Magabala Books)

Young Adult Fiction Award ($15,000)

• After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson (VIC) (Allen & Unwin)
• Between Us by Clare Atkins (NSW) (Black Inc)
• The Centre of My Everything by Allayne Webster (SA) (Penguin Random House Australia)
• Neverland by Margot McGovern (SA) (Penguin Random House Australia)
• Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein (VIC) (Walker Books Australia)
• A Song Only I Can Hear by Barry Jonsberg (NT) (Allen & Unwin)

Fiction Award ($15,000)

• The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones (NSW) (Text Publishing)
• Dyschronia by Jennifer Mills (SA) (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar (VIC) (Wild Dingo Press)
• Saudade by Suneeta Peres da Costa (NSW) (Giramondo Publishing)
• A Stolen Season by Rodney Hall (VIC) (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Taboo by Kim Scott (WA) (Pan Macmillan Australia)

John Bray Poetry Award ($15,000)

• Archival-Poetics by Natalie Harkin (SA) (Vagabond Press)
• Blakwork by Alison Whittaker (NSW) (Magabala Books)
• False Claims of Colonial Thieves by Charmaine Papertalk Green and John Kinsella (WA) (Magabala Books)
• The Lost Arabs by Omar Sakr (NSW) (University of Queensland Press)
• Music our Bodies Can’t Hold by Andy Jackson (VIC) (Hunter Publishers)
• Viva the Real by Jill Jones (SA) (University of Queensland Press)

Non-Fiction Award ($15,000)

• The Bible in Australia: A cultural history by Meredith Lake (NSW) (NewSouth Publishing)
• Call of the Reed Warbler by Charles Massy (NSW) (University of Queensland Press)
• Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia by Billy Griffiths (VIC) (Black Inc)
• Dr Space Junk vs The Universe: Archaeology and the future by Alice Gorman (SA) (NewSouth Publishing)
• Eggshell Skull: A memoir about standing up, speaking out and fighting back by Bri Lee (NSW) (Allen & Unwin)
• The Year Everything Changed: 2001 by Phillipa McGuinness (NSW) (Penguin Random House Australia) 

We have our fingers and toes crossed for everyone! Good luck.

To find out more about the prize and the festival, visit the State Library of South Australia website.