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2022 Queensland Literary Awards shortlists

The Queensland Literary Awards recognise and celebrate the exceptional literary talents of esteemed and emerging Queensland writers.
#QldLitAwards

2022 Finalists announced

Congratulations to the finalists for the Queensland Literary Awards 2022!

The Queensland Literary Awards celebrate outstanding writers from Queensland and around Australia, across published and unpublished categories. The awards also offer fellowships and development awards for Queensland writers, and emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers, Australia-wide.  

Stay up to date by following the Queensland Literary Awards on Twitter and Facebook.

Winners’ announcements live stream

The winners’ announcements will be live streamed on State Library’s website and Facebook Live at 7 pm on Thursday 8 September 2022. Voting is now closed for The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award. Register here to watch live as we reveal all the winners!

Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance

$25,000 | Supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland

Cover of Wounded Country – the Murray-Darling Basin: A contested history by Quentin Beresford. A big gum tree with some stripped bark sits on a riverbank

Wounded Country 
Quentin Beresford 
NewSouth

Muddy People: A Memoir by Sara El Sayed

Muddy People
Sara El Sayed
Black Inc. Books

Cover of The Burnished Sun by Mirandi Riwoe. A grey shaded background with a bunch of red/orange bananas in the centre. The title is in red.

The Burnished Sun
Mirandi Riwoe
University of Queensland Press

Cover of Operation Jungle by John Shobbrook. The book is orange with palm trees along the bottom and a 'frayed' look to the lettering

Operation Jungle
John Shobbrook
University of Queensland Press

Cover of Another Day in the Colony by Chelsea Watego. Pencilled white words over an image of an Aboriginal woman in a black dress with a bird and a First Fleet ship and

Another Day in the Colony
Chelsea Watego
University of Queensland Press

Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award

$12,500 each (two awards) | Supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland

Rebecca Cheers, Author

Rebecca Cheers

A black and white image of Marilena Hewitt. They are wearing glasses and resting their face on their hands. They're looking off camera.

Marilena Hewitt

Headshot of Miranda Hine who is wearing a short sleeved black top, red lipstick and glasses. She is looking at the camera

Miranda Hine

Headshot of Sean West – he wears a white button up shirt with flamingoes on it. His hair is pink and he sits smiling under a pink tree

Sean West

The University of Queensland Fiction Book Award

$15,000 | Supported by The University of Queensland

Cover of The Other Half of You by Michael Mohammed Ahmad. It's a yellow illustrated cover with a large orange hand and a small blue hand placed over it

The Other Half of You
Michael Mohammed Ahmad 
Hachette Australia

Cover of Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au. It's a window with water droplets on it; the cover shows a blurred green and black image behind the glass

Cold Enough for Snow
Jessica Au
Giramondo Publishing

Cover of The Furies by Mandy Beaumont. A book held by a girl is open in the centre of the cover; it is on fire. Tag line is "A woman can be lost in so many ways".

The Furies
Mandy Beaumont
Hachette Australia

Cover of The Keepers by Al Campbell. It is blue with two stylised figures embracing and a heart between them

The Keepers
Al Campbell
University of Queensland Press

Cover of Australiana by Yumna Kassab. It's a painted outback scene with sunset colours and a windmill and farmhouse drawn in the bottom right

Australiana
Yumna Kassab
Ultimo Press 

The University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award

$15,000 | Supported by The University of Queensland

The cover of Lies, Damned Lies by Claire G. Coleman. It is a yellow book with purple writing. The letters of the title filled with colourful Aboriginal artwork. "Damned" is stamped in the centre of the cover

Lies, Damned Lies
Claire G. Coleman
Ultimo Press

Muddy People: A Memoir by Sara El Sayed

Muddy People
Sara El Sayed 
Black Inc. Books    

Cover of The Mother Wound by Amani Haydar. It is a blue book showing a dark haired stylised woman in a pink dress holding an infant

The Mother Wound
Amani Haydar
Pan Macmillan

The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen: Travels with my grandmother’s ashes by Krissy Kneen

The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen
Krissy Kneen 
Text Publishing    

Cover of Another Day in the Colony by Chelsea Watego. Pencilled white words over an image of an Aboriginal woman in a black dress with a bird and a First Fleet ship and

Another Day in the Colony
Chelsea Watego
University of Queensland Press

Children’s Book Award

$15,000 | Supported by Susan Hocking and Ian Mackie, and their family, through The Hocking Mackie Trust at APS Foundation

Cover of My Brother Ben by Peter Carnavas. It's yellow with dark blue outlines of two boys, one fishing. Also a tree and a lake

My Brother Ben
Peter Carnavas
University of Queensland Press  

Cover of A Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr. A girl in plaits is walking through a glasshouse door; inside are pretty trees and flowers

A Glasshouse of Stars
Shirley Marr 
Penguin Random House Australia    

Cover of Kunyi by Kunyi June Anne McInerney. A man in a hat is pushing a group of small children on a railway handcar. A red desert is illustrated behind them.

Kunyi
Kunyi June Anne McInerney 
Magabala Books

Cover of The Boy Who Tried To Shrink His Name by Sandhya Parappukkaran and illustrated by Michelle Pereira showing a drawing of a boy in green shorts and a pink t-shirt holding a ball of orange wool

The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name
Sandhya Parappukkaran and illustrated by Michelle Pereira
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing

Cover of The First Scientists by Corey Tutt; two Aboriginal people stand in the centre of a stylised green land with a red sun rising behind them

The First Scientists
Corey Tutt and illustrated by Blak Douglas  
Hardie Grant Explore

Griffith University Young Adult Book Award

$15,000 | Supported by Griffith University

Cover of Girls in Boys' Cars by Felicity Castagna. It's an illustration of a girl with sunglasses in the driver's seat pouting into the side mirror.

Girls in Boys' Cars
Felicity Castagna
Pan Macmillan 

The cover of Katipo Joe: Wolf's Lair by Brian Falkner. A picture of a train is overlaid with a moon and a spider arranged like a Nazi swastika.

Katipo Joe: Wolf’s Lair
Brian Falkner
Scholastic   

Cover of Morrison and Mr Moore by Michael Hyde. A view of a wooden pier over the water and blue sky above.

Morrison and Mr Moore
Michael Hyde
In Case of Emergency Press

Cover of Social Queue by Kay Kerr. It's mauve with five stylised figures in bright clothing looking up at a girl in a red outfit

Social Queue 
Kay Kerr
Text Publishing

Cover of Sugar by Carly Nugent. The cover is swirls of pink and green underneath a line illustration of a girl.

Sugar
Carly Nugent
Text Publishing

Library Shop fiction bookshelf

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University of Southern Queensland Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection

$15,000 | Supported by University of Southern Queensland

Cover of Dark as Last Night by Tony Birch. The cover is black with white writing. Spots in red, white, grey, yellow that could be moons or points of light are spread across the cover.

Dark as Last Night
Tony Birch
University of Queensland Press 

The Kindness of Birds by Merlinda Bobis. The cover is black showing illustrated flowers and a bird at the centre. A line of music runs across the top.

The Kindness of Birds
Merlinda Bobis   
Spinifex Press   

Cover of The Burnished Sun by Mirandi Riwoe. A grey shaded background with a bunch of red/orange bananas in the centre. The title is in red.

The Burnished Sun
Mirandi Riwoe
University of Queensland Press

If You're Happy by Fiona Robertson – a yellow cover with a windscreen wiper motif and a storm in the centre

If You're Happy
Fiona Robertson
University of Queensland Press

Cover of Lake Malibu and other stories by Su-May Tan. A painting of a palm tree is brown and smudged; a bottle of Malibu is drawn on the bottom right of the cover

Lake Malibu and Other Stories
Su-May Tan
Spineless Wonders

Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection

$15,000 | Supported by Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund

Cover of TAKE CARE by Eunice Andrada. It is a stylised dark dark cover with two overlaid shapes in blue and cream in the centre

TAKE CARE
Eunice Andrada
Giramondo Publishing 

Cover of Stasis Shuffle by Pam Brown. The cover shows a stormy grey sky over an almost empty city intersection; the book title is in yellow

Stasis Shuffle
Pam Brown  
Hunter Publishers  

Cover of accelerations & inertias by Dan Disney. It is a red and white rendering of clouds, mountains and cherry blossoms

accelerations & inertias
Dan Disney
Vagabond Press 

The cover of At the Altar of Touch by Gavin Yuan Gao. Blue bordered-cover with wavy shapes in black and white and a black shape in the centre.

At the Altar of Touch
Gavin Yuan Gao 
University of Queensland Press

Cover of Bees Do Bother by Ann Vickery. It's an ultra close up of the yellow and black insides of a bee hive

Bees Do Bother: An Antagonist's Carepack
Ann Vickery
Vagabond Press

David Unaipon Award for an Emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Writer

$15,000 | Supported by Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund

Headshot of Edoardo Crismani. He is seated at a desk with a large book in front of him. Edoardo wears a black jumper and is smiling

‘Finding Billy Brown’
Edoardo Crismani 

Headshot of Julie-Ann 'Garrimaa' Moore. She is seated in front of a brick wall. She wears a black top and a necklace with pink, orange and white strands

‘Wawun, Judulu and The Big Storm’
Julie-Ann ‘Garrimaa’ Moore

Mykaela Saunders is walking along a coastal path at sunset. She has long brown hair and big silver earrings.

‘Always Will Be – stories of Goori sovereignty, from the future(s) of the Tweed’ 
Mykaela Saunders

Photo of Rick Slager – he is wearing a grey jumper and black beanie with an Aboriginal flag on it. Rick is in front of rocks and grass and is smiling at the camera.

untitled manuscript
Rick Slager

Headshot of Aunty Joan Tranter. She is standing against a white wall and is wearing a black blazer, colourful scarf and pink shirt

‘Unplanned Journey: A personal account of one Indigenous woman’s life’ 
Aunty Joan Tranter

Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer

$15,000 | Supported by Jenny Summerson through the Queensland Library Foundation

Photo of A E Macleod. They are seated with arms crossed over, wearing a black top, and in front of a purple flowered background

'Do you like the artist Georgia O’Keeffe?'
A E Macleod 

Headshot of John Richards; a close up image – John is wearing a blue button up shirt. He has a light beard and blue eyes

'The Interventions'
John Richards

Emily Winter sits at a table in the sunshine. She is smiling, wearing a grey turtleneck and glasses.

'Sunshowers'
Emily Winter

Yen-Rong Wong in a black and white photo. She is seated with her hands folded, smiling, with glasses and her hair long.

'Things Left Unsaid'
Yen-Rong Wong

The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award

$10,000 | Supported by The Courier-Mail

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Whole Notes: Life Lessons Through Music by Ed Ayres

Whole Notes
Ed Ayres
ABC Books

Cover of The Keepers by Al Campbell. It is blue with two stylised figures embracing and a heart between them

The Keepers
Al Campbell
University of Queensland Press

Muddy People: A Memoir by Sara El Sayed

Muddy People
Sara El Sayed
Black Inc. Books

Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss

Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray
Anita Heiss
Simon & Schuster Australia

The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen: Travels with my grandmother’s ashes by Krissy Kneen

The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen
Krissy Kneen
Text Publishing

Red Heaven by Nicolas Rothwell

Red Heaven
Nicolas Rothwell
Text Publishing

Major partners

Queensland Government logo

Category sponsors

Copyright Agency Cultural FundThe University of QueenslandUniversity of Southern Queensland logoGriffith University logoThe Courier Mail logo

Principal benefactors

The Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer is supported by Jenny Summerson through the Queensland Library Foundation.

Children's Book Award is supported by Susan Hocking and Ian Mackie, and their family, through The Hocking Mackie Trust at APS Foundation.

The Queensland Writers Fellowships are supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and State Library of Queensland.

Supporters

UQP logoQueensland Writers Center

Help support writers

The Queensland Literary Awards are supported through the Queensland Library Foundation. You can be part of this celebration of literature and help nurture Australian writers at all stages of their careers. 

Donate now
External shot of The Edge

Find the finalists in your library

Borrow the books from State Library or find them in your local public library.

Search the catalogue

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