The shortlists of

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors. It’s particularly warming to see books that have been overlooked in other award nominations being recognised here.

We’re especially pleased that Steven Amsterdam’s second novel What The Family Needed, Janette Turner Hospital’s collection of stories Forecast: Turbulence and Adrian Hyland’s compelling account of the Black Saturday fires Kinglake-350 all made the shortlists.

The winner in each category takes home $10,000, plus there’s an extra $10,000 up for grabs for the book judged to be the overall winner. You can read the judges’ thoughts on each book here.

The winners will be announced at the Melbourne Writers Festival.

Fiction

• Forecast: Turbulence by Janette Turner Hospital
• What The Family Needed by Steven Amsterdam
• Foal’s Bread by Gillian Mears
• The Meaning Of Grace by Deborah Forster
• Spirit House by Mark Dapin

Non-Fiction

• 1835: The Founding Of Melbourne & The Conquest Of Australia by James Boyce
• Double Entry by Jane Gleeson-White
• Kinglake-350 by Adrian Hyland
• Hiroshima Nagasaki by Paul Ham
• Fishing The River Of Time by Tony Taylor

Poetry

• Late Night Shopping by Ryhll McMaster
• First Light by Kate Fagan
• Surface To Air by Jaya Savige
• The Welfare Of My Enemy by Anthony Lawrence
• The Brokenness Sonnets I-III And Other Poems by Mal McKimmkie