New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry, and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction.
, the Awards are presented by the NSW Government and administered by the State Library of New South Wales in association with Create NSW, with support of Multicultural NSW and the University of Technology Sydney. Total prize money in 2019 was up to A$305,000, with eligibility limited to writers, translators and illustrators with Australian citizenship or permanent resident status.
History
The NSW Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities. If governments treat writers and artists with respect and understanding, the community will be more likely to do the same." They were the first set of premier's awards offered in Australia.The awards were not presented in 1998.
Judging
The winners of most of the prizes and awards are decided by a judging panel, with no input from Create NSW or the New South Wales Government. The names of each year's judges are not announced until the final winners are decided. The judging has been the subject of controversy in the past, when in 2010, the panel decided not to bestow the Play Award on any of the applicants.In November 2011, the NSW Government announced a review of the Premier's Literary Awards for 2012. An independent panel, chaired by journalist Gerard Henderson, reviewed both the Literary and the Premier's History Awards, focussed on the governance, selection criteria and judging processes. Following the review, the Awards are managed by the State Library of NSW, in association with Create NSW.
Categories
The following prizes and awards are currently given in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.- Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
- Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction
- Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
- Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature
- Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature
- NSW Multicultural Award
- UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing
- Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting
- Script Writing Award
- NSW Premier's Prize for Literary Scholarship
- People's Choice Award
- Special Award
- NSW Premier's Translation Prize
- Multicultural NSW Early Career Translator Prize
- Indigenous Writers Prize
- Gleebooks Prize
Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
Award winners
Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction
The Douglas Stewart Prize is awarded for a prose work that is not fiction. The recipient currently receives a A$40,000 prize. It is named in honor of Douglas Stewart, a noted Australian literary editor. The first recipient was Manning Clark, who was awarded the Prize for the fourth volume in his series A History of Australia in 1979. Drusilla Modjeska, with three wins, has won the Prize more than any other individual. In 2019 Billy Griffiths and Sarah Krasnostein were joint winners.Award winners
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
The Kenneth Slessor Prize is awarded for a book of poetry, whether collected poems or a single poem of some length, and was first awarded in 1980. The recipient currently receives a A$30,000 prize. It is named in honor of Kenneth Slessor, a noted Australian poet and journalist. The first recipient was David Campbell, who won the Prize posthumously. In 2011, NSW poet Jennifer Maiden became the only individual to win the award three times. The latest recipient was Judith Bishop in 2019.Award winners
Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature
The Ethel Turner Prize is awarded for work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for young people of secondary school level. The recipient currently receives a A$30,000 prize. It is named in honor of Ethel Turner, author of the children's classic, Seven Little Australians.The Children's Literature section of the Premier's Literary Awards began as a single award in 1979, but was redefined in 1999 to create the Patricia Wrightson Prize and the Ethel Turner Prize. The Ethel Turner Award was also given to all previous winners in the Children's Literature section. The Prize was first won, jointly, by Patricia Wrightson and Jenny Wagner in 1979. The most recent recipients are James Roy and Noël Zihabamwe for their co-authored novel One Thousand Hills. Australian author Ursula Dubosarsky and writer Jaclyn Moriarty have each won the prize three times.
Award winners
Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature
The Patricia Wrightson Prize is awarded for work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for children up to secondary school level. The recipient currently receives a A$30,000 prize.The Children's Literature section of the Premier's Literary Awards began as a single award in 1979, but was redefined in 1999 to create the Patricia Wrightson Prize and the Ethel Turner Prize. The Patricia Wrightson Prize was created in honour of children's author Patricia Wrightson, who won the first Ethel Turner Prize in 1979. The first recipient was Odo Hirsch, for his debut children's book, Antonio S and the Mystery of Theodore Guzman. The most recent recipient is Leanne Hall, author of Iris and the Tiger. Kierin Meehan is the only author who has won the Prize more than once.
Award winners
NSW Multicultural Award
This Award was first established in 1980, when it was known as the Ethnic Affairs Commission Award.Later known as the Community Relations Commission Award, and from 2012 referred to as the Community Relations Commission for Multicultural NSW Award, or from 2014 just Multicultural NSW Award, the prize money was A$20,000 in 2019.
It is offered for: "a book of fiction or non-fiction, memoir or history; a play, musical drama or comedy, theatrical monologue or other theatrical performance; a book of collected poems or a single poem of substantial length published in book form; the screenplay of a feature or documentary film or episode of a television program...; or
the script of a radio play or documentary which is deemed by the judges to have made a significant contribution to Australian literature, poetry, theatre, film, radio or television and which also considers any aspect of the Australian migration experience; and/or aspects of cultural diversity and multiculturalism in Australian society."
Award winners
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher |
| 1980 | Australia through Italian Eyes | Stephanie Lindsay Thompson | Oxford University Press |
| 1981 | For the Patriarch | Angelo Loukakis | University of Queensland Press |
| 1982 | The Long Farewell | Don Charlwood | Allen Lane |
| 1983 | Faith of Our Fathers | Spiro Zavos | University of Queensland Press |
| 1984 | A Universe of Clowns | Serge Liberman | Phoenix Publications |
| 1985 | Oh Lucky Country | Rosa Cappiello | University of Queensland Press |
| 1986 | No Snow In December | Maria Lewitt | Heinemann Publishers |
| 1987 | Dreamtime Nightmares | Bill Rosser | Penguin Books Australia |
| 1991 | Jewels and Ashes | Arnold Zable | Scribe Publications |
| 1992 | Inside Outside | Andrew Riemer | HarperCollins Angus & Robertson |
| 1993 | The Crocodile Fury | Beth Yahp | HarperCollins Angus & Robertson |
| 1994 | Aphrodite and the Others | Gillian Bouras | McPhee Gribble |
| 1995 | The First Book of Samuel | Ursula Dubosarsky | Penguin Books Australia |
| 1996 | Caravanserai | Hanifa Deen | Allen & Unwin |
| 1997 | The Fiftieth Gate | Mark Raphael Baker | HarperCollins Australia |
| 1999 | Mortal Divide: the Autobiography of Yiorgos Alexandroglou | George Alexander | Brandl & Schlesinger |
| 2000 | The Binna-Binna Man | Meme McDonald and Boori Monty Pryor | Allen & Unwin |
| 2001 | Rabbit-Proof Fence | Christine Olsen | Jabal Films |
| 2002 | Visits Home: Migration Experiences between Italy and Australia | Loretta Baldassar | Melbourne University Press |
| 2003 | Secrets and Spies: The Harbin Files | Mara Moustafine | Random House Australia |
| 2004 | Against Paranoid Nationalism: Searching for Hope in a Shrinking Society | Ghassan Hage | Pluto Press Australia |
| 2005 | A Certain Maritime Incident: the sinking of SIEV X | Tony Kevin | Scribe Publications |
| 2006 | The Secret River | Kate Grenville | Text Publishing |
| 2007 | The Arrival | Shaun Tan | Hachette Australia |
| 2008 | Sunrise West | Jacob G. Rosenberg | Brandl & Schlesinger |
| 2009 | Destination Australia: migration to Australia since 1901 | Eric Richards | UNSW Press |
| 2010 | Leave to Remain: A Memoir | Abbas El-Zein | Penguin Books Australia |
| 2011 | The English Class | Ouyang Yu | Transit Lounge Publishing |
| 2012 | Good Living Street: The Fortunes of My Viennese Family | Tim Bonyhady | Allen & Unwin |
| 2013 | Don't Go Back to Where You Came From | Tim Soutphommasane | NewSouth |
| 2014 | Questions of Travel | Michelle de Kretser | Allen & Unwin |
| 2014 | The Secret River | Andrew Bovell | Currency Press |
| 2015 | Matthew Klugman and Gary Osmond | NewSouth | |
| 2016 | Good Muslim Boy | Osamah Sami | Hardie Grant |
| 2017 | The Hate Race | Maxine Beneba Clarke | Hachette Australia |
| 2018 | The Permanent Resident | Roanna Gonsalves | UWA |
| 2019 | The Lebs | Michael Mohammed Ahmad | Hachette Australia |
| 2020 | The Pillars | Peter Polites | Hachette Australia |
UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing
The UTS Glenda Adams Award is given for a published book of fiction by an author who has not previously published a work of fiction that is booklength. It was established in 2005, and the winner currently receives a A$5,000 prize from the University of Technology, Sydney. The first recipient was Denise Young, and the most recent recipient was Michelle Cahill for her novel, Letter to Pessoa. The award renamed in 2008 to honour Glenda Adams, the late Australian novelist.Award winners
Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting
The Play Award, established in 1983, is given to a play or musical which has been produced in Australia. The winner is chosen based purely on the merit of the written text, and they currently receive a A$30,000 prize. The award was first given to playwright Nicholas Enright and composer Terence Clarke for the musical Variations. Writers Daniel Keene and Stephen Sewell have each won the Award three times.In 2010, the judges decided not to shortlist any plays for the Award, instead bestowing a $30,000 grant for new playwrights. Their decision was widely criticised by many of Australia's most experienced playwrights. Gil Appleton, head of the judging panel, called for all future judges to see a performance of the play rather than judging the work on the script alone.