The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary prize with the top winner receiving 125,000 and category winners 25,000 each.

The awards were established in 1985 by John Cain, Premier of Victoria, to mark the centenary of the births of Vance and Nettie Palmer, two of Australia's best-known writers and critics who made significant contributions to Victorian and Australian literary culture.

From 1986 till 1997, the awards were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. In 1997 their administration was transferred to the State Library of Victoria. By 2004, the total prize money was 180,000. In 2011, stewardship was taken over by the Wheeler Centre.

Winners 2011–present Beginning in 2011, the awards were restructured into five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Drama and Young People's. The winner of each receives $25,000. Of those five winners, one is chosen as the overall winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature and receives an additional $100,000. There are two other categories with different prize amounts: an honorary People's Choice Award voted on by readers, and an Unpublished Manuscript Award with a prize amount of $15,000. In 2022 an Award for Children's Literature valued at $25,000 was added, with entries being accepted in 2023. Another category was added in 2024, the John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing, honouring satirist John Clarke, for fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Shortlists are maintained in the main article for each category.

Victorian Prize for Literature YearAuthorTitleRef. 2011 That Deadman Dance 2012 2013Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication. 2014 Liquid Nitrogen 20152016Broken2017The Drover's Wife20182019No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison2020 with Eamon FlackCounting and Cracking20212022Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience2023Cold Enough for Snow2024Chinese Fish2025Three Dresses2026The Rot

Fiction

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction.

YearAuthorTitleRef. 2011That Deadman Dance 2012 Foal's Bread 2013Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication. 2014 Coal Creek 2015To Name Those Lost 2016The World Without Us 2017Between a Wolf and a Dog 2018Australia Day 2019The Madonna of the Mountains 2020Damascus 2021 2022 Melissa ManningSmokehouse 2023Cold Enough for Snow 2024 Edenglassie 2025 Highway 13 2026 Fierceland

Nonfiction

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction.

YearAuthorTitleRef. 2011An Eye for Eternity: The Life Of Manning Clark 2012 2013Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication. 2014Forgotten War 2015 2016Something for the Pain 2017Offshore: Behind the Wire on Manus 2018 2019No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison 202oSea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia 2021Body Count: How Climate Change Is Killing Us 2022 2023Root & Branch: Essays on Inheritance 2024Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity 2025Susan HamptonAnything Can Happen 2026Micaela SahharFind Me at the Jaffa Gate: An Encyclopaedia of a Palestinian Family

Poetry

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry.

YearAuthorTitleRef. 2011 2012 Armour 2013Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication. 2014Liquid Nitrogen 2015 2016Crankhandle 2017Carrying the World 2018Argosy 2019Tilt 2020Nganajungu Yagu 2021Case Notes 2022Trigger Warning 2023At the Altar of Touch 2024Chinese Fish 2025Gawimarra: Gathering 2026 KONTRA

Writing for Young Adults

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction.

YearAuthorTitleRef. 2011 2012 2013Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication. 2014My Life as an Alphabet 2015 2016 Welcome to Orphancorp 2017When Michael met Mina 2018Living on Hope Street 2019 and Ezekiel KwaymullinaCatching Teller Crow 2020How It Feels to Float 2021Metal Fish, Falling Snow 2022Girls in Boys' Cars 2023 We Who Hunt the Hollow 2024 A Hunger of Thorns 2025 Anomaly 2026 This Stays Between Us

Drama

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Louis Esson Prize for Drama.

YearAuthorTitle 2011Do not go gentle… 2012 2013Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication. 2014Savages 2015Resplendence 2016Broken 2017 The Drover's Wife 2018Rice 2019 2020 with Eamon FlackCounting and Cracking 2021Wonnangatta 2022Milk 2023The Return 2024 and Eamon Flack The Jungle and the Sea 202537 2026 Super

People's Choice Award YearAuthorTitleRef. 2011Into The Woods: The Battle for Tasmania's Forests 2012 National Interest 2013Presented in January 2014 (see 2014 entry) for books published in 2013. Previous awards were based on the year of publication. 2014Burial Rites 2015Where Song Began 2016Fever of Animals 2017When Michael met Mina 2018Ida 2019Eggshell Skull 2020The Girls 2021Witness 2022Tiger Daughter 2023 and Krystal De NapoliAstronomy: Sky Country 2024The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World 2025I'd Rather Not 2026Discipline

Unpublished Manuscript

For winners from 2003 to 2010, see the main article. No award was presented in 2011.

YearAuthorTitleRef. 20122013Foreign Soil2014Fever of Animals2015 2016Australia Day 2017The Nowhere Child (as Decay Theory) 2019Kokomo 2020Hovering 2021Anam 2022Fauna of Mirrors 2023One Divine Night 2024Panajachel 2025I Made This Just for You2026The Kookaburra

Indigenous Writing

YearAuthorTitleRef. 2004Her Sister's Eye 2006Swallow the Air 2008Anonymous Premonition 2010Legacy 2012 Am I Black Enough For You? 2014Mullumbimby 2016Ghost River 2019Taboo 2021Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music 2022Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience 2023The Upwelling 2024Close to the Subject: Selected Works 2025Black Witness2026The Rot

Children's Literature YearAuthorTitleRef. 2024Ghost Book 2025Three Dresses2026Once I Was a Giant

John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing YearAuthorTitleRef. 2025I'd Rather Not

Defunct award categories (1985–2010) From 1985 to 2010 prizes were offered in some or all of the below categories.

Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction Prize for Young Adult Fiction C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry Louis Esson Prize for Drama Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate (after Alfred Deakin) Prize for Science Writing (biennial) Village Roadshow Prize for Screen Writing Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize for Writing about Italians in Australia John Curtin Prize for Journalism Prize for Best Music Theatre Script Prize for Indigenous Writing (Biennial) Prize for a First Book of History (Biennial) Dinny O'Hearn Prize for Literary Translation (Triennial) A.A. Phillips Prize for Australian Studies Alan Marshall Prize for Children's Literature Prize for First Fiction

See also Victorian Community History Awards Wheeler Centre

Notes

External links State Library of Victoria