2020 winners and finalists
Congratulations to all finalists, and the winners announced in an online ceremony streamed from State Library of Queensland on 4 September.
Queensland Premier's Award for a work of State Significance
Prize $25,000
WINNER
-
Heartland: How Rugby League Explains Queensland (UQP) by Joe Gorman
FINALISTS
- Meet Me at Lennon's (UQP) by Melanie Myers
- Stone Sky Gold Mountain (UQP) by Mirandi Riwoe
- Hearing Maud (UWA Publishing) by Jessica White
This award is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
The University of Queensland Fiction Book Award
Prize $15,000
WINNER
-
Stone Sky Gold Mountain (UQP) by Mirandi Riwoe
FINALISTS
- Act of Grace (Black Inc.) by Anna Krien
- The Returns (Transit Lounge) by Philip Salom
- The Adversary (Penguin Random House) by Ronnie Scott
- The Yield (Penguin Random House) by Tara June Winch
The University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award
Prize $15,000
WINNER
-
Olive Cotton: A Life in Photography (HarperCollins) by Helen Ennis
FINALISTS
- Bedlam at Botany Bay (NewSouth Publishing) by James Dunk
- Friends and Rivals (Text Publishing) by Brenda Niall
- Truganini (Allen & Unwin) by Cassandra Pybus
- The Watermill (Text Publishing) by Arnold Zable
Griffith University Young Adult Book Award
Prize $15,000
WINNER
-
Ghost Bird (UQP) by Lisa Fuller
FINALISTS
- Deep Water (Allen & Unwin) by Sarah Epstein
- How to Grow a Family Tree (HarperCollins) by Eliza Henry-Jones
- It Sounded Better in My Head (Text Publishing) by Nina Kenwood
- This is How We Change the Ending (Text Publishing) by Vikki Wakefield
Griffith University Children's Book Award
Prize $15,000
WINNER
-
As Fast As I Can (UQP) by Penny Tangey
FINALISTS
- Detention (Penguin Random House) by Tristan Bancks
- Winston and the Wondrous Wooba Gymnastics Club (Omnibus Books) by Tamsin Janu
- Fly (Penguin Random House) by Jess McGeachin
- Nop (Walker Books) by Caroline Magerl
University of Southern Queensland Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection
Prize $15,000
WINNER
-
Lucky Ticket (Text Publishing) by Joey Bui
FINALISTS
- A Constant Hum (Text Publishing) by Alice Bishop
- The House of Youssef (Giramondo Publishing) by Yumna Kassab
- A Couple of Things Before the End (Black Inc.) by Sean O'Beirne
- Here Until August (Black Inc.) by Josephine Rowe
Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection
Prize $15,000
WINNER
-
Heide (Giramondo Publishing) by Pi.O
FINALISTS
- Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness (Vagabond Press) by Peter Boyle
- Lyre (UWA Publishing) by Stuart Cooke
- Nganajungu Yagu (Cordite Books) by Charmaine Papertalk Green
- Throat (UQP) by Ellen van Neerven
This award is supported by the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund.
Queensland Writers Fellowships
Prize: Three Fellowships of $19,500
WINNERS
-
Sara El Sayed, 'The Blind Pussy Cat'
-
Anna Jacobson, 'Anxious in a Sweet Store'
-
Amanda Niehaus, 'Relativity'
Supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and State Library of Queensland. A Queensland Writers Fellowship is supported by Susan Hocking and Ian Mackie, and their family, of the Hocking Mackie Fund at APS Foundation. Queensland Writers Fellowships are administered by the Queensland Writers Centre.
David Unaipon Award for an Emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Writer
Prize $15,000
WINNER
-
'The Space Between the Paperbark' by Jazz Money
FINALISTS
- 'Valley of Cane and Crows' by Boyd Quakawoot
- 'Last Rites of Spring' by Mykaela Saunders
- 'Burn' by Melanie Saward
This award is support for the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund.
Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer
Prize $15,000
WINNER
-
'If You're Happy' by Fiona Robertson
FINALISTS
- 'The Solitary Light' by Bianca Millroy
- 'Daddy & Other Father Figures' by Jonathan O'Brien
- 'Without a Word' by Jenny Ruge
- 'As We Knew It' by Siall Waterbright
This award is supported by Jenny Summerson.
Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award
Two awards of $12,500 each
WINNERS
-
Zenobia Frost
-
Yen-Ron Wong
FINALISTS
- Sara El Sayed
- Ellen Wengert
This award is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award
Prize $10,000
WINNER
-
A Lifetime of Impossible Day (Penguin Random House) by Tabitha Bird
FINALISTS
- The Kowloon Kid (Transit Lounge) by Phil Brown
- A River with a City Problem (UQP) by Margaret Cook
- Feeding the Birds at Your Table (NewSouth Publishing) by Darryl Jones
- Meet Me at Lennon's (UQP) by Melanie Myers
- The Breeding Season (Allen & Unwin) by Amanda Niehaus
- Stone Sky Gold Mountain (UQP) by Mirandi Riwoe
- Hearing Maud (UWA Publishing) by Jessica White
The winner is determined by public vote. Voting closed Monday 17 August 2020, 5pm.
2020 trophy design
The 2020 trophies were created by glass artists Joanna Bone and Aaron Micallef from their Brisbane studio. Inspired by the natural environment, form, surface and movement of light, their shared and complementary aesthetic approaches feed a synergistic cycle of inspirations, creating work that lures the viewer into its depths.