The ACT Book of the Year Award is an annual prize of $10,000 awarded for a literary work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry written by an author from the Australian Capital Territory. The award was inaugurated in 1993 with $5,000 prize money. The Award showcases the talent and the excellence of local authors and is also intended to "inspire those who have an idea, a seed for a book to ‘pick up the pen’ and get writing".

Winners and select shortlist

YearAuthorTitlePublisherResultRef. 1993 Marion Halligan Lovers' Knots HeinemannJoint winners A. D. Hope Chance Encounters Melbourne University Press 1994 John Foulcher New and Selected Poems Brandl & Schlesinger Winner 1995 Sara Dowse Sapphires Penguin Group Winner 1996 Paul Hetherington Shadow Swimmer Molonglo Press Winner 1997 Imago Spinifex Press Winner 1998 Lee Chittick Travelling With Percy : A South Coast Journey Aboriginal Studies Press Winner 1999 Craig Cormick Unwritten Histories Aboriginal Studies Press Winner 2000 Adrian Caesar The White: Last days in the Antarctic Journeys of Scott and Mawson 1911-1913 Picador Winner 2001 Alan Gould The Schoonermaster's Dance Flamingo Joint WinnersDorothy Johnston The Trojan Dog Wakefield Press 2002 Jackie French In the Blood Angus & Robertson Winner 2003 John Clanchy The Hard Word University of Queensland Press Winner 2004 Marion Halligan The Point Allen & Unwin Winner 2005 Tony Kevin A Certain Maritime Incident : the sinking of SIEV X Scribe Publications Winner 2006 John Clanchy Vincenzo's Garden University of Queensland Press Winner 2007 Sunday Menu : selected short stories of Pham Thi Hoai Pandanus Winner 2008 Tony Kevin Walking the Camino : A Modern Pilgrimage to Santiago Scribe Publications Winner 2009 Nicholas Drayson A Guide to the Birds of East Africa: A Novel Viking Winner 2010 Marion Halligan Valley of Grace Allen & Unwin Winner 2011 Chris Hammer The River: A journey through the Murray-Darling Basin Melbourne University Press Winner 2012 Bill Gammage The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia Allen & Unwin Winner 2013 Frank Bongiorno The Sex Lives of Australians : A History Black Inc. Winner 2014 Gordon Peake Beloved land: stories, Struggles and secrets from Timor-Leste Scribe Publications Winner 2015 Mark Henshaw The Snow Kimono Text Publishing Winner 2016 Frank Bongiorno The Eighties : the decade that transformed Australia Black Inc. Winner 2017 Tom Griffiths The Art of Time Travel : Historians and their craft Black Inc. Winner 2018 Paul Collis Dancing Home University of Queensland Press Winner2019Robyn CadwalladerBook of ColoursHarperCollinsWinner2020Lisa FullerGhost BirdUniversity of Queensland PressWinner2021Subhash JairethSpinoza's Overcoat: Travels with Writers and PoetsTransit LoungeWinner2022Lucy NeaveBelieve in MeUniversity of Queensland PressWinnerMerlinda BobisThe Kindness of BirdsHighly CommendedDylan van den BergMilkHighly CommendedOmar MusaKillernovaHighly CommendedTim BonyhadyTwo Afternoons in the Kabul Stadium: A History of Afghanistan Through Clothes, Carpets and the CameraShortlistedHugh PoateFailures of Command: The Death of Private Robert PoateShortlistedKaya WilsonAs Beautiful As Any Other: A Memoir of My BodyShortlisted2023Frank BongiornoDreamers and Schemers: A political history of AustraliaLa Trobe University PressWinnerJulieanne LamondLohrey Highly CommendedMarion HalliganWords for LucyHighly CommendedNiki SavvaBulldozed: Scott Morrison's fall and Anthony Albanese's riseShortlistedKatrina MarsonLegitimate Sexpectations: the power of sex-edShortlistedRobert BowkerTomorrow There will be ApricotsShortlisted2024Chris HammerThe SevenAllen & UnwinWinnerAyesha InoonUntetheredInoon, Ayesha (2024). Untethered. Sydney: HQ Fiction (HarperCollins Australia). . HarperCollins Australia.HarperCollins AustraliaHighly CommendedJ. Ashley-SmithThe Measure of Sorrow: StoriesAshley-Smith, J. (2023). The Measure of Sorrow: Stories. Atlanta: Meerkat Press. . AustLit.Meerkat Press (Atlanta, USA)Paul HetheringtonSleeplessnessHetherington, Paul (2023). Pierian Springs Press. . Amazon Australia.Pierian Springs PressShortlistedMavis Kerinaiua and Laura RademakerTiwi Story: Turning history downside upKerinaiua, Mavis; Rademaker, Laura (2023). Tiwi Story: Turning History Downside Up. Sydney: NewSouth Publishing. . UNSW Press.NewSouth PublishingJackie FrenchThe Great Gallipoli EscapeFrench, Jackie (2023). The Great Gallipoli Escape. Sydney: Angus & Robertson (HarperCollins Children’s Books). . Children’s Book Council of Australia.Angus & Robertson (HarperCollins Children’s Books)2025Darren Rix & Craig CormickWarra Warra Wai Simon & Schuster AustraliaWinnerTheodore EllLebanon DaysAtlantic Books Australia; Allen & Unwin (digital)Highly CommendedQin QinModel Minority Gone RogueHachette AustraliaShortlistedAndra PutnisStories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell MeAllen & UnwinShortlisted

References

External links Official website Libraries ACT website