Prizes

Longlists, shortlists and winners the moment embargoes lift, and a calendar of every entry deadline and announcement in the region.

Entries closed · 4 Nov

Ockham NZ Book Awards 2027 entries close; longlists due 28 January

Submissions for books published in 2026 have closed. Longlists will be announced on 28 January 2027 and shortlists on 3 March, and the ceremony will be held in Auckland on 12 May with the Auckland Writers Festival.

Entries closed · 1 Nov

CBCA 2027 entries close as new Middle Readers category begins

Entries for the 2027 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards closed on 1 November, and books must reach the national office by 14 November. The 2027 awards add a Middle Readers category for readers aged 10 to 13.

Winner · 27 Oct

Olivia De Zilva wins 2026 Readings New Australian Fiction Prize

Plastic Budgie, published by Pink Shorts Press, won from a shortlist of six titles. The other shortlisted books were by Hossein Asgari, Romy Ash, Rhett Davis, Zeynab Gamieldien and Wayne Marshall.

Winner · 8 Oct

Lenora Thaker wins Premier's Award at 2026 Queensland Literary Awards

The Pearl of Tagai Town (Text Publishing) won the Award for Work of State Significance, and Claire Thomas's On Not Climbing Mountains won the fiction award. Brisbane Writers Festival announced the winners at the 8 October ceremony.

Winner · 24 Sep

Sally Hepworth's Mad Mabel wins 2026 Ned Kelly Award for crime fiction

The Australian Crime Writers Association also gave awards to Liz Allan's In Bloom (best debut) and Charlotte Grieve's Duty to Warn (true crime). Abigail Dean's The Death of Us won the international category.

Winner · 12 Sep

Joanna Jenkins's The Bluff wins Davitt Award for best adult crime novel

Sisters in Crime Australia presented the 2026 Davitt Awards on 12 September. Kate Wild's The Red House won best non-fiction, and Sally Hepworth's Mad Mabel took the readers' choice award.

Winner · 11 Sep

Mabel Gibson's CryBaby takes WA Premier's Book of the Year

The Night Parrot Press title also won Emerging Writer of the Year. David Whish-Wilson's O'Keefe (Fremantle Press) won the fiction category, from a total prize pool of $120,000.

Winner · 10 Sep

Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2026 winners named in Canberra

Kate Wild's The Red House (non-fiction) and Pip Harry's Drift (young adult) are among the six category winners, each receiving $80,000 tax-free. The fiction award went to A Piece of Red Cloth by Leonie Norrington and three Yolŋu co-authors.

Prize calendar

Date	Prize	Region	What happens
26 Nov	NSW Literary Awards 2027 entries close on 26 November	Australia	Entries close
30 Nov	Aurealis Awards entries for 2026 speculative fiction close 30 November	Australia	Entries close