The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were an Australian suite of literary awards inaugurated in 1999 and disestablished in 2012. It was one of the most generous suites of literary awards within Australia, with $225,000 in prize money across 14 categories with prizes up to $25,000 in some categories. The awards upon their establishment incorporated a number of pre-existing awards including the Steele Rudd Award for the best Australian collection of new short fiction and the David Unaipon Award for unpublished Indigenous writing.

The awards were established by Peter Beattie, the then Premier of Queensland in 1999[1] and abolished by Premier Campbell Newman, shortly after winning the 2012 Queensland state election.[2]

In response, the Queensland writing community established the Queensland Literary Awards to ensure the Awards continued in some form.[3] The judging panels remained largely the same, and University of Queensland Press committed to continue to publish the winners of the Emerging Queensland Author Manuscript Award and the Unpublished Indigenous Writer, David Unaipon Award.[4]

Fiction Book Award

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Queensland Premier's Award for Fiction

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Year Title Author
1999 Fredy Neptune: A Novel in Verse Les Murray
2000 Drylands Thea Astley
2001 True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey
2002 The Volcano Venero Armanno
2003 Due Preparations for the Plague Janette Turner Hospital
2004 Elizabeth Costello J. M. Coetzee
2005 The Turning Tim Winton
2006 The Garden Book Brian Castro
2007 Carpentaria Alexis Wright
2008 The Spare Room Helen Garner
2009 Wanting Richard Flanagan
2010 Summertime J. M. Coetzee
2011 Reading Madame Bovary Amanda Lohrey

Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Best Fiction Book

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Year Title Author
2012 Cold Light Frank Moorhouse
2013 Mullumbimby Melissa Lucashenko
2014 The Narrow Road to the Deep North Richard Flanagan
2015 The Golden Age Joan London
2017 The Birdman's Wife Melissa Ashley
2018 Taboo Kim Scott
2019 Exploded view Carrie Tiffany
2020 Stone Sky Gold Mountain Mirandi Riwoe
2021 Song of the Crocodile Nardi Simpson
2022 The Other Half of You Michael Mohammed Ahmad (Editor)
2023 Praiseworthy Alexis Wright

Emerging Queensland Author – Manuscript Award

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Unpublished Indigenous Writer – The David Unaipon Award

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Non-Fiction Book Award

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History Book Award – Faculty of Arts, University of Queensland Award

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Children's Book Award – Mary Ryan's Award

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Young Adult Book Award

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Science Writers – Department of State Development, Trade and Innovation Award

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Poetry Collection – Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award

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Australian Short Story Collection – Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Award

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Literary Work Advancing Public Debate – the Harry Williams Award

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Film Script – the Pacific Film and Television Commission Award

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Television Script – QUT Creative Industries Award

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Drama Script (Stage) Award

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Encouragement and Development Prize

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References

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  1. ^ "QLD Premier's Literary Awards axed"
  2. ^ "New premier tears up literary awards", 3 April 2012, The Sydney Morning Herald
  3. ^ "Qld Literary Awards to go ahead, organisers say"
  4. ^ "The Alternative Queensland Literary Award"
  5. ^ Perilous Adventures: The Writer's Magazine.
  6. ^ "Mazin Grace". UQP. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Queensland Literary Awards: 2012 Winners – Literary of Media Work Advancing Public Debate – Harry Williams Award". qldliteraryawards.org.au. Queensland Literary Awards Inc. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Little Fish". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  9. ^ Dionysius, Bobbi-Lea (12 August 2013). "Trollop – Queensland Theatre Company". AussieTheatre.com. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
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