Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature

The Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature were established in 1986 and are an initiative of the Government of South Australia, managed through Arts SA. They are granted biennially to the judged-best authors in Australian children’s literature, fiction, innovation, non-fiction and poetry. The awards, which judge the best works published in Australia in the previous two years, are the nation’s most competitive literary awards (761 entries submitted for 2010).

There is a total prize pool of $160,000, and these awards honour the best in Australian literature.

The Premier’s Award recognises the most outstanding published book submitted to the awards.

The awards recognise published and unpublished works by emerging and established writers, across a number of genres.

In 2012 a Young Adult Fiction Award was included for the first time. There are seven national awards (for published works) and two awards and two fellowships specifically for South Australian writers.

Premier’s Award

• 2014 Cold Light by Frank Moorhouse
• 2012 That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott (Picador Australia)
• 2010 Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (Allen and Unwin)
• 2008 Urban Myths: 210 Poems by John Tranter (University of Queensland Press)
• 2006 Sixty Lights by Gail Jones (Vintage Books)
• 2004 Wild Surmise by Dorothy Porter (Picador)
• 2002 True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (University of Queensland Press)
• 2000 Mr Darwin's Shooter by Roger McDonald (Vintage Books)
• 1998 The Drowner by Robert Drewe (Pan MacMillan)
• 1996 The Future Eaters by Tim Flannery (Reed Books)

Non-Fiction Award

• 2014 Madness: A Memoir by Kate Richards
• 2012 An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark by Mark McKenna
• 2010 Stella Miles Franklin by Jill Roe (Fourth Estate / HarperCollins)
• 2008 Sunrise West by Jacob G Rosenberg (Brandl & Schlesinger)
• 2006 Velocity by Mandy Sayer (Vintage Books)
• 2004 Unearthed: The Aboriginal Tasmanians of Kangaroo Island by Rebe Taylor (Wakefield Press)
• 2002 Leviathan: the unauthorised biography of Sydney by John Birmingham (Random House Australia)
• 2000 Throw'im Way Leg: An Adventure by Tim Flannery (Text Publishing)
• 1998 Claiming a Continent: A History of Australia by David Day (HarperCollins)
• 1996 The Future Eaters by Tim Flannery (Reed Books)
• 1994 Sort of a Place Like Home: Remembering the Moore River Native Settlement by Susan Maushart (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)
• 1992 Patrick White – A Life by David Marr (Random House Australia)
• 1990 Satura by John Bray (Wakefield Press)
• 1988 The Myriad Faces of War by Trevor Wilson (Polity/Blackwells)
• 1986 A History of Prince Alfred College by R M Gibbs (Peacock Publications)

Fiction award

• 2012 That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott (Picador Australia)
• 2010 Ransom by David Malouf (Knopf/Random House)
• 2008 The Ballad of Desmond Kale by Roger McDonald (Vintage Books)
• 2006 Sixty Lights by Gail Jones (Vintage Books)
• 2004 Moral Hazzard by Kate Jennings (Picador)
• 2002 True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (University of Queensland Press)
• 2000 Mr Darwin's Shooter by Roger McDonald (Vintage Books)
• 1998 The Drowner by Robert Drewe (Pan MacMillan)
• 1996 Death of a River Guide by Richard Flanagan (McPhee Gribble/Penguin)
• 1994 Grand Days by Frank Moorhouse (William Heinemann Australia)
• 1992 The Great World by David Malouf (Chatto & Windus)
• 1990 Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (University of Queensland Press)
• 1988 Julia Paradise by Rod Jones (McPhee Gribble)
• 1986 The Children's Bach by Helen Garner (McPhee Gribble)

Children’s Literature Award

• 2014 A Very Unusual Pursuit by Catherine Jinks
• 2012 Taj and the Great Camel Trek by Roseanne Hawke (University of Queensland Press)
• 2010 Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (Allen and Unwin)
• 2008 Don't Call Me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer (Omnibus Scholastic)
• 2006 It's Not All About You, Calma! by Barry Jonsberg (Allen and Unwin)
• 2004 Abyssinia by Ursula Dubosarsky (Viking Penguin)
• 2002 Lirael by Garth Nix (HarperCollins)
• 2000 Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne (Puffin Penguin)
• 1998 The Listmaker by Robin Klein (Viking Penguin)
• 1996 The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden (Pan MacMillan)
• 1994 Angel's Gate by Gary Crew (William Heinemann Australia)
• 1992 The House Guest by Eleanor Nilsson (Viking Penguin)
• 1990 Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (Hyland House)
• 1988 Space Demons by Gillian Rubinstein (Omnibus Books)
• 1986 The Long Night Watch by Ivan Southall (Methuen)

Young Adult Fiction Award

• 2014 Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield
• 2012 All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

John Bray Poetry Award

• 2014 The Sunlit Zone by Lisa Jacobson (Five Islands Press)
• 2012 Taller When Prone by Les Murray (Black Inc)
• 2010 The Other Way Out by Bronwyn Lea (Giramondo poets)
• 2008 Urban Myths: 210 Poems by John Tranter (University of Queensland Press)
• 2006 Totem by Luke Davies (Allen and Unwin)
• 2004 Wild Surmise by Dorothy Porter (Picador)
• 2002 Around Here by Cath Kenneally (Wakefield Press)
• 2000 The Harbour by Dimitris Tsaloumas (University of Queensland Press)
• 1998 The Blue Cloud of Crying by Peter Boyle (Hale & Ironmonger)
• 1996 The Silo: A Pastoral Symphony by John Kinsella (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)
• 1994 Between Glances by Andrew Lansdown (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)
• 1992 Last Poems by Vincent Buckley (McPhee Gribble)
• 1990 Bone Scan by Gwen Harwood (Angus & Robertson)
• 1988 The Daylight Moon by Les Murray (Angus & Robertson)
• 1986 Selected Poems - 1963–1983 by Robert Gray (Angus & Robertson)

Innovation award

• 2010 Barley Patch by Gerald Murnane (Giramondo Publishing)
• 2008 Someone Else: Fictional Essays by John Hughes (Giramondo Publishing)
• 2006 <More or Less> 1-100 by MTC Cronin (Shearsman Books)
• 2004 The Eastern Slope Chronicle by Ouyang Yu (Brandl and Schlesinger)

The Mayne Award for Multimedia

(formerly the Faulding Award for Multimedia)

• 2004 Concatenation by Geniwate (www.idaspoetics.com.au/generative/generative.html)
• 2002 Poems in a Flash @ The Stalking Tongue website Jayne Fenton Keane and David Keane (www.poetinresidence.com)
• 2000 Carrier by Melinda Rackham (www.subtle.net/carrier)
• 1998 FlightPaths: Writing Journeys by Julie Clarke, Rob Finlayson, Tom Gibson, Denise Higgins, Bernie Jannsen, Nazid Kimmie and Adrian Marshall

Wakefield Press Unpublished Manuscript Award

• 2014 Here Where We Life by Cassie Flanagan-Willanski
• 2012 The First Week by Margaret Merrilees
• 2010 End of the Night Girl by Amy T Matthews
• 2008 The Second Fouling Mark by Stephen Orr
• 2006 The Quakers by Rachel Hennessy
• 2004 Goddamn Bus of Happiness by Stefan Laszczuk
• 2002 The Black Dream by Corrie Hosking
• 2000 No winner
• 1998 Counting The Rivers by Pearlie McNeil

Jill Blewett Playwright’s award

• 2012 A Cathedral by Nicki Bloom
• 2010 This Place by Nina Pearce
• 2008 Merger - art, life and the other thing by Duncan Graham
• 2006 This Uncharted Hour by Finegan Kruckemeyer
• 2004 Beautiful Words: A Trilogy by Sean Riley
• 2002 Small Faith by Josh Tyler
• 2000 Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? By Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves & Christos Tsiolkas (Melbourne Workers Theatre)
• 1998 Wolf Lullaby by Hilary Bell (Griffin Theatre Company)
• 1996 Because You Are Mine by Daniel Keene (Red Shed)
• 1994 Sweetown by Melissa Reeves (Red Shed)
• 1992 Bran Nue Dae by Jimmy Chi (Kuckles and Bran Nue Dae Productions)

Barbara Hanrahan Fellowship

• 2014 Jennifer Mills
• 2012 Nicki Bloom
• 2010 Patrick Allington
• 2008 Steve Evans
• 2006 Mike Ladd (poet)
• 2004 Kirsty Brooks
• 2002 Graham Rowlands
• 2000 Jan Owen
• 1998 Cath Kenneally
• 1996 Moya Costello
• 1994 Barry Westburg

Carclew Fellowship

• 2012 Janeen Brian
• 2010 Nicole Plüss
• 2008 Rosanne Hawke
• 2006 Christine Harris
• 2004 Marguerite Hann-Syme
• 2002 Ruth Starke
• 2000 Ian Bone
• 1998 Phil Cummings
• 1996 Chris Tugwell
• 1994 Peter McFarlane
• 1992 Anne Brookman
• 1990 Anne-Marie Mykyta
• 1988 Geoff Goodfellow

See also

• List of Australian literary awards