Thanks to Tony from Messenger’s Booker who passed on the announcement, here’s the 2018 Premier’s Literary Awards shortlists:
Christina Stead Prize for Fiction (three short story collections!)
Links are to the prize website, and (eventually, when my internet woes enable it) to my reviews. In the meantime, please use the search box.
- Common People by Tony Birch, short stories, also nominated for the Indigenous Writer’s Prize, see my review
- Seabirds Crying in the Harbour Dark by Catherine Cole short stories
- Pulse Points: Stories by Jennifer Down short stories
- The Book of Dirt by Bram Presser, debut novelist see my review
- The Restorer by Michael Sala
- Taboo by Kim Scott also nominated for the Indigenous Writer’s, Prize see my review
Indigenous Writers’ Prize
- Finding Eliza: Power and Colonial Storytelling by Larissa Behrendt non-fiction, see my review
- Common People by Tony Birch short stories, see my review
- Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms by Anita Heiss historical fiction, see my review
- The Drover’s Wife by Leah Purcell (the only one I haven’t read, it’s a play, and I’m waiting impatiently for it to be staged in Melbourne!)
- Taboo by Kim Scott contemporary novel, see my review
Felicity Castagna’s No More Boats is nominated for the Multicultural NSW Wales award, see my review.
I’ll add the other categories when or if my frustration with Telstra subsides. (This is Week 3 of intermittent internet access and it is driving me crazy!)
Update, an hour later: to see the full list of nominations, visit Messenger’s Booker.
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
Thanks for sharing this Lisa. It’s so hard to keep up with all these awards at this time of year isn’t it? Of all these, it’s Common people I want to read.
It’s also exciting to see who will win the Glenda Adams award, but no shortlist for that.
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By: whisperinggums on March 19, 2018
at 9:30 pm
It’s impossible to keep up with them all. I don’t worry too much about the big ones that get plenty of publicity elsewhere (except for the MF, of course!) but I do try to keep up with the minor ones like the Kibble and the Dobbie and the ALS…
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By: Lisa Hill on March 19, 2018
at 10:12 pm
Yes, I agree. And this is the year for Kibble and Dobbie isn’t it – and Jefferis I think – as they’re biennial and weren’t done last year (if I remember correctly).
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By: whisperinggums on March 19, 2018
at 10:55 pm
Yes, but they’re hard to keep track of. They’re run by trusts, and so it’s a matter of luck whether I see a tweet or something on Facebook to alert me to the lists. I’m sure I’ve subscribed to an email notification at different times, but (perhaps because they change publicists or something?) it’s all a bit hit and miss.
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By: Lisa Hill on March 19, 2018
at 11:07 pm
Yes, I know. The trusts vary a lot in how they promote.
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By: whisperinggums on March 20, 2018
at 7:54 am
Great strike rate on the reviews, Lisa!
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By: Nathan Hobby on March 22, 2018
at 11:51 pm
For the Indigenous award, yes, but not so good for the fiction (they can tie me to a burning post but I am never going to be a fan of short story collections!)
And if you’ve checked all the other categories, I haven’t read any of them!
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By: Lisa Hill on March 23, 2018
at 9:44 am