Sandy Bigna's Little Bones wins 2026 ACT Book of the Year

The verse novel beat six other Canberra titles for the $10,000 award, announced at the Canberra Writers Festival.

By The Book Source16 October 20261 minute read

Sandy Bigna has won the 2026 ACT Book of the Year for Little Bones, a verse novel. The result was announced on Friday 16 October at the National Library of Australia, on the opening day of the Canberra Writers Festival.

Now in its 33rd year, the $10,000 award recognises work by Canberra-based authors published in the previous calendar year. The judges called the book a profound meditation on grief, friendship and healing.

The shortlist, released on 9 October, also included Merlinda Bobis's In the Name of the Trees, Emily Gallagher's Playtime: A History of Australian Childhood, Daniel Oakman's Fire in the Head, Martin Thomas's Clever Men, Dylan Van Den Berg's The Chosen Vessel and Emma Pei Yin's When Sleeping Women Wake.

Bigna said an award for Canberra authors meant a lot to her because she usually sets her stories in the city. Her next verse novel for readers aged nine to 12, which is not connected to Little Bones, has been acquired by UQP and is due around the middle of next year.

Original source: University of Queensland Press ↗

More from The Book Source

Prize Woollahra Digital Literary Award shortlists 15 online works for 2026 Ellena Savage, Tegan Bennett Daylight and Toby Fitch are among the writers in contention, with winners named at a Double Bay ceremony. Prize NSW Literary Awards 2027 entries close on 26 November Ten categories are open for entry from a $360,000 prize pool across 14 awards. Early-bird entries close at 5pm on 12 November and all entries at 5pm on 26 November (AEST). Prize Aurealis Awards entries for 2026 speculative fiction close 30 November Australian speculative fiction first published between 1 January and 30 November 2026 is eligible, with shortlists due in March 2027 and winners in April.