Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2019
The winners
- The Victorian Prize for Literature, and the Prize for Non-Fiction: No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani (Picador Australia)
- The Prize for Fiction: The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise Valmorbida (Faber & Faber)
- The Prize for Drama: The Almighty Sometimes by Kendall Feaver (Currency Press, in association with Griffin Theatre Company)
- The Prize for Poetry: Tilt by Kate Lilley (Vagabond Press)
- The Prize for Writing for Young Adults: Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (Allen & Unwin)
- The Prize for Indigenous Writing: Taboo by Kim Scott (Picador Australia)
- The Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript: Kokomo by Victoria Hannan
- People’s Choice Award: Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)
The judges
Fiction: Jackie Tang, Abigail Ulman, Chris Womersley, Elizabeth McCarthy (convenor)
Non-fiction: Dennis Altman, Fatima Measham, Sonia Nair, Bhakthi Puvanenthiran, Jordy Silverstein (convenor)
Drama: Tim Byrne, Samah Sabawi, Alison Croggon (convenor)
Poetry: Broede Carmody, Lia Incognita, Gig Ryan (convenor)
Writing for Young Adults: Melissa Keil, Nevo Zisin, Leanne Hall (convenor)
The Prize for Indigenous Writing: Genevieve Grieves, Mark McMillan, Jane Harrison (convenor)
The Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript: Jaclyn Crupi, JP Pomare, Elizabeth Flux (convenor)
The shortlist
Fiction
- Flames by Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing)
- Ironbark by Jay Carmichael (Scribe Publications)
- The Fireflies of Autumn: And Other Tales of San Ginese by Moreno Giovannoni (Black Inc. Books)
- The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones (Text Publishing)
- Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)
- The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise Valmorbida (Faber & Faber)
Non-fiction
- No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani (Picador Australia)
- Staying: A Memoir by Jessie Cole (Text Publishing)
- The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire by Chloe Hooper (Penguin Random House Australia)
- Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)
- Miss Ex-Yugoslavia by Sofija Stefanovic (Penguin Random House Australia)
- Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin (Brow Books)
Drama
- The Almighty Sometimes by Kendall Feaver (Currency Press, in association with Griffin Theatre Company)
- Going Down by Michele Lee (Malthouse Theatre)
- Barbara and the Camp Dogs by Ursula Yovich and Alana Valentine (Currency Press, in association with Belvoir)
Poetry
- Flood Damages by Eunice Andrada (Giramondo Publishing)
- Tilt by Kate Lilley (Vagabond Press)
- Milk Teeth by Rae White (University of Queensland Press)
Writing for Young Adults
- Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough (Hardie Grant Egmont)
- Between Us by Clare Atkins (Black Inc. Books)
- Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (Allen & Unwin)
Indigenous Writing
- Common People by Tony Birch (University of Queensland Press)
- Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)
- Taboo by Kim Scott (Picador Australia)
- Blakwork by Alison Whittaker (Magabala Books)
Unpublished Manuscript
- Wedding Cake Island by John Byron
- Kokomo by Victoria Hannan
- Frontier Sport by Wayne Marshall
Highly commended
Fiction
- Pink Mountain on Locust Island by Jamie Marina Lau (Brow Books)
Non-fiction
- Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia by Billy Griffiths (Black Inc. Books)
- One Hundred Years of Dirt by Rick Morton (Melbourne University Publishing)
- Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home by Sisonke Msimang (Text Publishing)
- Small Wrongs: How we really say sorry in love, life and law by Kate Rossmanith (Hardie Grant Books)
Drama
- Lethal Indifference by Anna Barnes (Sydney Theatre Company)
- In the Club by Patricia Cornelius (State Theatre Company of South Australia)
Poetry
- Body of Work by Elena Gomez (Cordite Publishing)
- Subtraction by Fiona Hile (Vagabond Press)
- Blakwork by Alison Whittaker (Magabala Books)
Young Adult
- After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson (Allen & Unwin)
- Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza (Penguin Random House Australia)
Unpublished Manuscript
- The Fogging by Luke Horton
- This Wasn’t Meant To Be Me by Allee Richards