The longlists for the 2021 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced. The ABIAs celebrate the best books of the year, as judged by Australian book industry members.

The titles in each category are…

General fiction book of the year

• The Bluffs by Kyle Perry
• The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
• The Godmothers by Monica McInerney
• The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan
• The Morbids by Ewa Ramsey
• The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall
• The Survivors by Jane Harper
• Trust by Chris Hammer

Literary fiction book of the year

• A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing by Jessie Tu
• A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
• All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
• Honeybee by Craig Silvey
• Infinite Splendours by Sofie Laguna
• Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson
• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
• The Last Migration by Charlotte McConaghy

General nonfiction book of the year

• Fire Country by Victor Steffensen
• My Tidda, My Sister by Marlee Silva; Illustrated by Rachael Sarra
• One Day I’ll Remember This: Diaries 1987–1995 by Helen Garner
• Phosphorescence by Julia Baird
• The Golden Maze by Richard Fidler
• The Space Between by Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald
• Un-cook Yourself by Nat’s What I Reckon
• Women and Leadership by Julia Gillard & Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Biography book of the year

• A Bigger Picture by Malcolm Turnbull
• A Repurposed Life by Ronni Kahn with Jessica Chapnik Kahn
• Boy on Fire: The Young Nick Cave by Mark Mordue
• Fourteen by Shannon Molloy
• Paul Kelly by Stuart Coupe
• Soar: A Life Freed by Dance by David McAllister with Amanda Dunn
• The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
• Truganini by Cassandra Pybus

Book of the year for older children (ages 13+)

• Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Future Girl by Asphyxia
• Jane Doe and the Key of All Souls by Jeremy Lachlan
• Please Don’t Hug Me by Kay Kerr
• The End of the World is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell
• The F Team by Rawah Arja
• The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
• This One is Ours by Kate O’Donnell

Book of the year for younger children (ages 7-12)

• Finding Our Heart by Thomas Mayor and Illustrated by Blak Douglas
• Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend
• The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor
• The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals by Sami Bayly
• The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks
• Took The Children Away by Archie Roach & Illustrated by Ruby Hunter
• We Are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad
• When Rain Turns to Snow by Jane Godwin

Children’s picture book of the year (ages 0-6)

• Aunty’s Wedding by Miranda Tapsell, Joshua Tyler and Samantha Fry
• Bluey: The Creek Bluey
• Our Home, Our Heartbeat by Adam Briggs, Kate Moon & Rachael Sarra
• Respect by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson; Illustrated by Lisa Kennedy
• Sing Me the Summer by Jane Godwin and Alison Lester
• The Fire Wombat by Jackie French and Danny Snell
• When We Say Black Lives Matter by Maxine Beneba Clarke
• Windows by Jonathan Bentley and Patrick Guest

Illustrated book of the year

• A Year of Simple Family Food by Julia Busuttil Nishimura
• Beatrix Bakes by Natalie Paull
• In Praise of Veg by Alice Zaslavsky
• Loving Country by Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou
• Places We Swim by Caroline Clements and Dillon Seitchik-Reardon
• Plantopedia by Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan
• Sam Bloom by Samantha Bloom, Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive
• To Asia, With Love by Hetty McKinnon

International book of the year

• A Life On Our Planet by David Attenborough
• A Promised Land by Barack Obama
• Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
• Ottolenghi Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage
• Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given

Small publishers’ adult book of the year

• Glimpses of Utopia by Jess Scully
• Living on Stolen Land by Ambelin Kwaymullina
• Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe
• The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
• The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
• What Is To Be Done by Barry Jones
• Where the Fruit Falls by Karen Wyld
• Yornadaiyn Woolagoodja by Yornadaiyn Woolagoodja

Small publishers’ children’s book of the year

• Anemone is not the Enemy by Anna McGregor
• Bindi by Kirli Saunders and Illustrated by Dub Leffler
• Claudette by Helene Magisson
• Family by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson; Illustrated by Jasmine Seymour
• Found by Bruce Pascoe and Charmaine Ledden-Lewis
• Howl by Kat Patrick and Illustrated by Evie Barrow
• Metal Fish, Falling Snow by Cath Moore
• My Shadow is Pink by Scott Stuart

The Matt Richell award for new writer of the year

• A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing by Jessie Tu
• Lucky’s by Andrew Pippos
• My Tidda, My Sister by Marlee Silva and Illustrated by Rachael Sarra
• Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson
• The Coconut Children by Vivian Pham
• The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor
• The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
• The Morbids by Ewa Ramsey

The 2021 shortlists will be announced on 12 April, with the winners to be announced on 28 April. For more information, please visit the ABIA website.