The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists award was created in 1997 by the newspaper's literary editor, Susan Wyndham and is made annually. The awards recognise emerging writing talent, and are made to writers who are aged 35 years or younger when their book is first published.
The award criteria were relaxed in 2009 to allow the inclusion of short story collections. That year, Nam Le won the award with his short story collection, The Boat.
The judges change regularly, and the number of writers named as "Best Young Australian Novelist" each year varies. Ten were named in the award's first year.
Past winners
1997–1999 Year Author Title Publisher 1997 Bernard Cohen Tourism Picador Matthew Condon The Lulu Magnet Random House Fotini Epanomitis The Mule's Foal Allen & Unwin Catherine Ford Dirt and Other Stories Text Publishing Andrew McGahan 1988 Macmillan Fiona McGregor Suck My Toes McPhee Gribble Gillian Mears The Grass Sister Alfred A. Knopf Mandy Sayer Mood Indigo Allen & Unwin Christos Tsiolkas Loaded Vintage Books Beth Yahp The Crocodile Fury Angus & Robertson 1998 James Bradley Wrack Random House Bernard Cohen The Blindman's Hat Allen & Unwin Luke Davies Candy Ballantine Books Delia Falconer The Service of Clouds Macmillan Anthony Macris Capital: Volume One Allen & Unwin Clare Mendes A Race Across Burning Soil Flamingo David Snell The Illustrated Family Doctor Pan Macmillan Emma Tom Deadset Vintage Books 1999 Georgia Blain Closed for Winter Penguin Bernard Cohen Snowdome Allen & Unwin Raimondo Cortese The Indestructible Corpse Text Publishing Lisa Merrifield Mrs Feather and the Aesthetics of Survival Flamingo Camilla Nelson Perverse Acts Text Publishing Elliot Perlman Three Dollars Picador
2000–2009 Year Author Title Publisher 2000 James Bradley The Deep Field Sceptre Julia Leigh The Hunter Penguin Australia 2001 Sonya Hartnett Thursday's Child Penguin Australia Malcolm Knox Summerland Random House Hoa Pham Vixen Hodder Headline 2002 Tegan Bennett Daylight What Falls Away Allen & Unwin Stephen Gray The Artist Is a Thief Allen & Unwin Andrew Humphreys The Weight of the Sun Allen & Unwin Irini Savvides Willow Tree and Olive Hodder Headline 2003 Emily Ballou Father Lands Picador Sonya Hartnett Of a Boy Viking (Australia) Sarah Hay Skins Allen & Unwin Chloe Hooper A Child's Book of True Crime Penguin 2004 M. J. Hyland How the Light Gets In Penguin Louise Limerick Dying for Cake Pan Macmillan Mardi McConnochie The Snow Queen Flamingo Nerida Newton The Lambing Flat University of Queensland Press Matthew Reilly Scarecrow Pan Macmillan Danielle Wood The Alphabet of Light and Dark Allen & Unwin 2005 Nicholas Angel Drown Them in the Sea Allen & Unwin Corrie Hosking Ash Rain Wakefield Press Andrew Humphreys Wonderful Allen & Unwin Leigh Redhead Peepshow Allen & Unwin Craig Silvey Rhubarb Fremantle Press 2006 Stephanie Bishop The Singing Brandl and Schlesinger Leigh Redhead Rubdown Allen & Unwin Tony Wilson Players Text Publishing Markus Zusak The Book Thief Picador 2007 Will Elliott The Pilo Family Circus ABC Books Tara June Winch Swallow the Air University of Queensland Press Danielle Wood Rosie Little's Cautionary Tales for Girls Allen & Unwin 2008 Belinda Castles The River Baptists Allen & Unwin Max Barry Company Doubleday Jessica Davidson What Does Blue Feel Like? Pan Macmillan Jessica White A Curious Intimacy Viking 2009 Nam Le The Boat Alfred A. Knopf Alice Nelson The Last Sky Fremantle Press Kevin Rabalais The Landscape of Desire Scribe Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole Hamish Hamilton
2010–2019 Year Author Title Publisher 2010 Kalinda Ashton The Danger Game Sleepers Publishing Andrew Croome Document Z Allen & Unwin Emily Maguire Smoke in the Room Picador Craig Silvey Jasper Jones Allen & Unwin 2011 Lisa Lang Utopian Man Allen & Unwin Gretchen Shirm Having Cried Wolf Affirm Press Kristel Thornell Night Street Allen & Unwin 2012 Melanie Joosten Berlin Syndrome Scribe Jennifer Mills Gone University of Queensland Press Rohan Wilson The Roving Party Allen & Unwin 2013 Romy Ash Floundering Text Publishing Paul D. Carter Eleven Seasons Allen & Unwin Zane Lovitt The Midnight Promise Text Publishing Emily Maguire Fishing for Tigers Picador Ruby J. Murray Running Dogs Scribe Majok Tulba Beneath the Darkening Sky Hamish Hamilton 2014 Luke Carman An Elegant Young Man Giramondo Publishing Balli Kaur Jaswal Inheritance Sleepers Publishing Hannah Kent Burial Rites Pan Macmillan Fiona McFarlane The Night Guest Penguin 2015 Michael Mohammed Ahmad The Tribe Giramondo Publishing Ellen van Neerven Heat and Light University of Queensland Press Maxine Beneba Clarke Foreign Soil Hachette Omar Musa Here Comes the Dogs Penguin Alice Pung Laurinda Black Inc 2016 Murray Middleton When There's Nowhere Else to Run Allen & Unwin Abigail Ulman Hot Little Hands Hamish Hamilton 2017 Rajith Savanadasa Ruins Hachette Jennifer Down Our Magic Hour Text Publishing Julie Koh Portable Curiosities University of Queensland Press Josephine Rowe A Loving, Faithful Animal University of Queensland Press 2018 Jennifer Down Pulse Points Text Publishing Marija Pericic The Lost Pages Allen & Unwin Shaun Prescott The Town Brow Books Pip Smith Half Wild Allen & Unwin 2019 Robbie Arnott Flames Text Publishing Tom Lee Coach Fitz Giramondo Publishing Jamie Marina Lau Pink Mountain on Locust Island Brow Books Ruby J. Murray The Biographer's Lover Black Inc
2020–2024 Year Author Title Publisher 2020 Alice Bishop A Constant Hum Text Publishing Joey Bui Lucky Ticket Text Publishing Josephine Rowe Here Until August Black Inc 2021 Vivian Pham The Coconut Children Sydney Story Factory Jessie Tu A Lonely Girl Is a Dangerous Thing Allen & Unwin K. M. Kruimink A Treacherous Country Allen & Unwin 2022 Ella Baxter New Animal Allen & Unwin Michael Burrows Where the Line Breaks Fremantle Press Diana Reid Love and Virtue Ultimo Press 2023 Jay Carmichael Marlo Scribe Katerina Gibson Women I Know Simon and Schuster George Haddad Losing Face University of Queensland Press 2024 André Dao Anam Hamish Hamilton Emily O'Grady Feast Allen & Unwin John Morrissey Firelight Text Publishing References