If you ever needed proof that Aussie authors are among the best in the world take a look at the just-released shortlist for the Australian Book Industry Awards.
The 2018 line-up includes some of the biggest names in publishing including literary heavyweights Peter Carey and Richard Flanagan, The Weekly’s own Maggie Beer and two of last year’s winners hoping to snag a gong two years in a row – novelist Jane Harper and Australian music legend turned autobiographer Jimmy Barnes.
Jimmy Barnes received the Biography Award in last year’s ABIA Awards.
Debut children’s author and publishing sensation Jessica Townsend features in two categories for her international best-selling Nevermoor. Jessica has been dubbed Australia’s J.K. Rowling and Nevermoor has already been secured for film rights with multiple book deals around the globe.
The awards for children’s books showcase Shaun Micallef’s subversive take on fairytales and Zoë Foster Blake’s irrepressible picture book No One Likes a Fart.
And regular Weekly cover star Turia Pitt is in the biography category for Unbreakable, a truly inspiring read.
Turia Pitt.
ABIA SHORTLIST 2018
Biography Book of the Year
Danger Music, Eddie Ayres
Tracker, Alexis Wright
Unbreakable, Jelena Dokic and Jess Halloran
Unmasked, Turia Pitt
Working Class Man, Jimmy Barnes
General Fiction Book of the Year
Force of Nature, Jane Harper
The Dark Lake, Sarah Bailey
The Inaugural Meeting Of The Fairvale Ladies Book Club, Sophie Green
The Secrets She Keeps, Michael Robotham
The Trip of A Lifetime, Monica McInerney
General Non-fiction Book of the Year
Being 14, Madonna King
Depends What You Mean By Extremist, John Safran
First, We Make The Beast Beautiful, Sarah Wilson
Saga Land, Richard Fidler and Kári Gíslason
The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster, Sarah Krasnostein
Illustrated Book of the Year
Basics to Brilliance Kids, Donna Hay
Maggie’s Recipe for Life, Maggie Beer and Professor Ralph Martins
Native: Art and Design with Australian Plants, Kate Herd and Jela Ivankovic-Waters
Ostro, Julia Busuttil Nishimura Paris: Through a Fashion Eye, Megan Hess
International Book of the Year
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, Elena Favilli and Francesa Cavall
Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie
La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One, Philip Pullman
Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders
Literary Fiction Book of the Year
A Long Way Home, Peter Carey
First Person, Richard Flanagan
See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt
The Choke, Sofie Laguna
Wimmera, Mark Brandi
Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year
Call of the Reed Warbler – A New Agriculture – A New Earth, Charles Massy (The University of Queensland Press, The University of Queensland Press)
Cardinal, Louise Milligan (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne University Publishing)
The Australian Bird Guide, Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack and Kim Franklin (CSIRO Publishing, CSIRO Publishing)
The Restorer, Michael Sala (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
Museum of Words, Georgia Blain (Scribe Publications, Scribe Publications)
Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year
Big Fella Rain, Beryl Webber and illustrated by Fern Martins
Hello, Melbourne!, Megan McKean
It’s OK to Feel the Way You Do, Josh Langley
The Elephant, Peter Carnavas
Under the Love Umbrella, Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys
The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year
Nevermoor, Jessica Townsend
Terra Nullius, Claire G Coleman
The Girl from Munich, Tania Blanchard
The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster, Sarah Krasnostein
Wimmera, Mark Brandi
Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)
Beautiful Mess, Claire Christian
Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, Amie Kaufman, Melissa Keil, Will Kostakis, Ellie Marney, Jaclyn Moriarty, Michael Pryor, Alice Pung, Gabrielle Tozer, Lili Wilkinson and Danielle Binks
My Life as a Hashtag, Gabrielle Williams
Tales From a Tall Forest, Shaun Micallef and illustrated by Jonathan Bentley
The Silent Invasion, James Bradley
Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-13)
Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase, Peter Helliar and illustrated by Lesley Vamos
Funny Kid for President, Matt Stanton
Nevermoor, Jessica Townsend
Polly and Buster: The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster, Sally Rippin
The 91-Storey Treehouse, Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)
Do Not Lick This Book, Idan Ben-Barak and illustrated by Julian Frost
Florette, Anna Walker
I’m Australian Too, Mem Fox and illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh
No One Likes a Fart, Zoë Foster Blake
Pig the Star, Aaron Blabey
