ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

Update: the shortlist has been announced, and I haven’t read a single one of them!

The shortlisted titles are in bold, in the lists below.

The 2022 Indie Book Awards Longlist was announced today.

FICTION LONGLIST

• After Story by Larissa Behrendt (University of Queensland Press), see my review
• The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks (HQ Fiction, HarperCollins Australia), see Jennifer’s review at Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large
• Plum by Brendan Cowell (Fourth Estate Australia)
• Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin), see my review
• Treasure and Dirt by Chris Hammer (Allen & Unwin), see Jennifer’s review at Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large
• Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray/River of Dreams by Anita Heiss (Simon & Schuster Australia), see my review
• Devotion by Hannah Kent (Picador Australia), see Jennifer’s review at Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large
• Love Objects by Emily Maguire (Allen & Unwin), see my review
• Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy (Hamish Hamilton Australia)
• The Last Woman in the World by Inga Simpson (Hachette Australia)

NON-FICTION LONGLIST

• Whole Notes by Ed Ayres (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia), see Jennifer’s review at Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large
• Love Stories by Trent Dalton (Fourth Estate Australia), see the SRB review
• Who Gets to Be Smart by Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin), see Michael’s review at Knowledge Lost
• Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry by Richard Flanagan (Penguin Australia), see Kim’s review at Reading Matters
• How We Love by Clementine Ford (Allen & Unwin)
• Larrimah by Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson (Allen & Unwin)
• The Brilliant Boy: Doc Evatt and the Great Australian Dissent by Gideon Haigh (Scribner Australia), on my TBR
• FunkyTown by Paul Kennedy (Affirm Press)
• So You Think You Know What’s Good for You? by Dr Norman Swan (Hachette Australia), see Jennifer’s review at Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large
• My Adventurous Life by Dick Smith (Allen & Unwin)

DEBUT FICTION LONGLIST

• When Things Are Alive They Hum by Hannah Bent (Ultimo Press), see Jennifer’s review at Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large
• Happy Hour by Jacquie Byron (Allen & Unwin)
• The Tribute by John Byron (Affirm Press)
• The Curlew’s Eye by Karen Manton (Allen & Unwin)
• We Were Not Men by Campbell Mattinson (HarperCollins Australia), see Jennifer’s review at Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large
• Permafrost by SJ Norman (University of Queensland Press)
• The Stoning by Peter Papathanasiou (Transit Lounge)
• She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (Tor), see my review
• Love & Virtue by Diana Reid (Ultimo Press)
• The Silent Listener by Lyn Yeowart (Viking Australia)

ILLUSTRATED NON-FICTION LONGLIST

• Where the River Bends by Jane and Jimmy Barnes (HarperCollins Australia)
• Still Life by Amber Creswell Bell (Thames & Hudson Australia)
• Garden Like a Nonno by Jaclyn Crupi (Affirm Press)
• Costa’s World by Costa Georgiadis (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)
• A Room of Her Own by Robyn Lea (Thames & Hudson Australia)
• The Great Forest by David Lindenmayer, with photographs by Chris Taylor, Sarah Rees & Steven Kuiter (Allen & Unwin)
• Old Vintage Melbourne by Chris Macheras (Scribe)
• The Good Life by Hannah Moloney (Affirm Press)
• Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers by Alison Pouliot & Tom May (CSIRO Publishing)
• Country Dogs on Doorsteps by Suzanne Stevenson (Affirm Press)

CHILDREN’S LONGLIST

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature by Sami Bayly (Lothian Children’s Books)
• Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day by Davina Bell, illustrated by Allison Colpoys (Scribble)
• The Boy and the Elephant by Freya Blackwood (HarperCollins Australia) Walk of the Whales by Nick Bland (Little Hare)
• The World’s Most Pointless Animals by Philip Bunting (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
• Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee (Allen & Unwin Children’s)
• Somebody’s Land: Welcome to Our Country by Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing, illustrated by David Hardy (Allen & Unwin Children’s)
• Down the Road, Little Bee by Sarah Jane Lightfoot (Affirm Press)
• Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)
• Wandi by Favel Parrett (Lothian Children’s Books)

YOUNG ADULT LONGLIST

• self/less by AViVA (Pan Australia)
• The Monster of Her Age by Danielle Binks (Lothian Children’s Books), see Jennifer’s review at Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large
• 100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze by Clayton Zane Comber (HarperCollins Australia)
• The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough (Allen & Unwin Children’s)
• Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin Children’s)
• The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni (Penguin Australia)
• Dark Rise by C S Pacat (Allen & Unwin Children’s)
• If Not Us by Mark Smith (Text Publishing)
• House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (Penguin Australia)
• Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde (University of Queensland Press)

The Shortlist will be announced on 19 January 2022, with the Category Winners and the Overall Book of the Year Winner being announced at a virtual awards event on Monday 21 March 2022.

The Indie Book Awards are sponsored by: Shawline Publishing Group, Pan Macmillan, Affirm Press, Penguin Random House, Thames & Hudson, Simon & Schuster, Text Publishing and Awards partner Hachette.

Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators, editors and publishers!