The Readings Young Adult Prize has been celebrating emerging Australian YA authors since 2017. Since 2023, Readings has also awarded the Gab Williams Prize, in memory of Gabrielle Williams, a young adult author and past manager of The Readings Prize. Each year, the winner of the Gab Williams Prize has been chosen by the Readings Teen Advisory Board, out of the titles shortlisted for The Readings Young Adult Prize.
The Readings Prize 2026
In 2026 we are making some changes to The Readings Prize and will now only have one YA prize, called The Gab Williams Prize. Staff will choose the shortlist, but the decision of the winner will go to our Teen Advisory Board, as befits their important role as tastemakers advising Readings of what teen readers want. The winner of The Gab Williams Prize will receive $5,000 in prize money.
The timing of the prizes will also be different from 2026. Rather than being announced with The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize in October 2026, the Gab Williams and Children’s Prizes will be announced in early 2027. Our staff will still be reading for the prize and compiling a shortlist in 2026. More information on the dates for these announcements will be shared later in 2026.
Enquiries
Eligible books stocked by Readings will automatically be considered for The Gab Williams Prize, but if you would like more information on the process or eligibility criteria, please contact the prize manager, Angela Crocombe.
Eligibility guidelines for entering a book into The Gab Williams Prize:
- The author must be an Australian citizen or hold permanent residency at the time of entry
- The book must be the author’s first or second published work of fiction
- The book must be a full-length novel
- The work must be published or distributed in Australia by an Australian publisher or the Australian publishing wing of an international publisher as recognised by Readings
- Entries must be published in English
- Authors must be living at the date of publication
- The publisher of the work must be willing to provide reading copies for each title upon request
- Graphic novels are eligible for entry into The Readings Gab Williams Prize
Ineligible for entry into The Gab Williams Prize:
- Books published only in e-book form
- Self-published or hybrid-published works
- Books published by authors who are employed by Readings during the judging period
- Authors who have previously won The Readings Prize
- Picture books, memoirs, short story collections, modified-for-younger-readers editions of previously published works
Previous winners of The Readings Gab Williams Prize: Biffy James (2023), Emily Brewin (2024) and Emma Clancey (2025).
Previous winners of The Readings Young Adult Prize: Zana Fraillon (2017), Erin Gough (2018), Eleni Hale (2019), Lisa Fuller (2020), Asphyxia (2021), Mirranda Burton (2022), Ann Liang (2023), Gary Lonesborough (2024) and Ian X. Cho (2025).
