ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

The Chief Minister’s NT Book Awards 2022 shortlists were announced today.

(For those not au fait with why the Northern Territory has a Chief Minister in whose name these awards are made, rather than a Premier, it’s because Australia has six states, all with a Premier, and two territories, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, both of which have a Chief Minister.)

These NT Book Awards are interesting because they feature books not often included in other major awards because the criteria limits entries to NT residents.  I’ve read and reviewed two of the past winners but I missed posting about the award in 2020 (probably because Covid cancelled the NT Writers’ Festival so publicity was limited).  The following is from the NT Writers’ Centre website:

Started by the NT Writers’ Centre in 2009, and originally called Territory Read, the Chief Minister’s NT book awards have been celebrating excellence amongst published authors residing in the NT for over a decade. What began as a single, annual award has evolved into a biennial affair with multiple categories, and with generous support from the Chief Minister have developed into the premier prize for authors in the NT.
In 2020, the three categories were streamlined into: fiction, non-fiction and YA/Children’s.

Winners receive $10,000 in prize money, and shortlisted titles receive $1000.

The 2022 awards are for books published in 2020 and 2021.  The winners will be announced on Wednesday, 22 June as part of this year’s NT Writers Festival.

For more information, see the NT Writers Centre website. or follow them @NTWritersCentre.

The shortlisted titles in each category are:

Fiction (Links are to Goodreads)

• Cusp (Mary Anne Butler, Currency Press)
• The Curlew’s Eye (Karen Manton, A&U)
• Return to Dust (Dani Powell, UWAP)

Nonfiction

• Peace Crimes: Pine Gap, national security and dissent (Kieran Finnane, UQP)
• Into the Loneliness: The unholy alliance of Ernestine Hill and Daisy Bates (Eleanor Hogan, NewSouth)
• Nomad Girl (Kanakiya Myra Ah Chee, Aboriginal Studies Press)

Children’s and young adult

• Storm Warning (Lauren Boyle, illus by Alyssa Mason, ILF)
• The River (Sally Morgan, illus by Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr, Magabala)
• Tjanimaku Tjukurpa: How one young man came good (NPY Women’s Council Uti Kulintaku Watiku [Men’s] Group, illus by Jan Bauer, NPY Women’s Council).