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Tasmanian Literary Awards

Past Winners

2022 Tasmanian Literary Awards

Minister for the Arts’ Prize for Books for Young Readers and Children

Ella and the Ocean by Lian Tanner, illustrated by Jonathan Bentley (Allen & Unwin)

Premier’s Prize for Fiction

The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey (Text Publishing)

Premier’s Prize for Non-fiction

Flight Lines: across the globe on a journey with the astonishing ultramarathon birds by Andrew Darby (Allen & Unwin)

Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry

Intimate, low-voiced, delicate things by Esther Ottaway (Puncher & Wattmann)

Tasmanian Aboriginal Writer’s Fellowship

Jennifer Evans

Margaret Scott Tasmanian Young Writer’s Fellowship

Stephanie Jack

University of Tasmania Prize

The Sand by Cameron Hindrum

People's Choice Awards

  • Minister for the Arts’ Prize for Books for Young Readers and Children: Sea Country by Aunty Patsy Cameron & Lisa Kennedy (Magabala Books)
  • Premier’s Prize for Fiction: Cold Coast by Robyn Mundy (Ultimo Press)
  • Premier’s Prize for Non-fiction: Truth-Telling: history, sovereignty and the Uluru Statement by Henry Reynolds (NewSouth)
  • Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry: Intimate, low-voiced, delicate things by Esther Ottaway (Puncher & Wattmann)

2019 Premier’s Literary Prizes

Tasmania Book Prize - for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre

Bridget Crack by Rachel Leary (Allen & Unwin)

Margaret Scott Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian writer

Flames by Robbie Arnott (Text Publishing)

University of Tasmania Prize – for the best new unpublished literary work by an emerging Tasmanian writer

The Signal Line by Brendan Colley

Tasmanian Young Writer’s Fellowship – awarded to young emerging writers aged 30 years and under

Sam George-Allen

People's Choice

  • Tasmania Book Prize: Bridget Crack by Rachel Leary (Allen & Unwin)
  • Margaret Scott Prize: Star-crossed by Minnie Darke (Penguin Randon House)
  • University of Tasmania Prize: The People's Park by Stephenie Cahalan and The Clinking by Susie Greenhill (joint winners)

2017 Premier’s Literary Prizes

Tasmania Book Prize - for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre

Into the Heart of Tasmania: A Search for Human Antiquity by Rebe Taylor (Melbourne University Press)

Margaret Scott Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian writer

The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Ros (Allen & Unwin)

University of Tasmania Prize – for the best new unpublished literary work by an emerging Tasmanian writer

Brodsky Dies by Adam Ouston

Tasmanian Young Writer’s Fellowship – this award was supported by private philanthropists and awarded to a young writer (aged 35 years and under)

Erin Hortle

2015 Premier’s Literary Prizes

Tasmania Book Prize - for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre

The Rise and Fall of Gunns Ltd by Quentin Beresford (New South Publishing)

Margaret Scott Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian writer

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (Random House Australia)

University of Tasmania Prize – for the best new unpublished literary work by an emerging Tasmanian writer

Soon by Lois Murphy

Tasmanian Young Writer’s Fellowship – this award was supported by private philanthropists and awarded to a young writer (aged 35 years and under)

Robbie Arnott

2013 Tasmanian Literary Prizes

Tasmania Book Prize - for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre

1835: The Founding of Melbourne and the Conquest of Australia by James Boyce (Black Ink)

Margaret Scott Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian writer

The Roving Party by Rohan Wilson (Allen & Unwin)

University of Tasmania Prize – for the best new unpublished literary work by an emerging Tasmanian writer

Kubla by Katherine Johnson

This manuscript was published as The Better Son by Ventura Press in 2016.

2011 Tasmania Book Prize

Tasmania Book Prize - for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre

Wanting by Richard Flanagan (Random House, 2008)

Margaret Scott Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian writer

What Now, Tilda B? by Kathryn Lomer (University of Queensland Press, 2010)

University of Tasmania Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian publisher

Postcards from the Asylum by Karen Knight (Pardalote Press, 2008)

2009 Tasmania Book Prize

Tasmania Book Prize - for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre

Van Diemen’s Land by James Boyce (Black Inc., 2008)

Margaret Scott Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian writer

Closing Hell’s Gates: the Death of a Convict Station, by Hamish Maxwell-Stewart (Allen & Unwin, 2008)

University of Tasmania Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian publisher

Antarctic Eye: the Visual Journey by Lynne Andrews (Studio One, 2007)

2007 Tasmania Book Prize

Tasmania Book Prize - for the best book with Tasmanian content in any genre

In Tasmania: Adventures at the End of the World by Nicholas Shakespeare (Knopf, 2004)

Margaret Scott Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian writer

Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev by Robert Dessaix (Picador, 2004)

University of Tasmania Prize – for the best book by a Tasmanian publisher

The Art of Apple Branding: Australian Apple Case Labels and the Industry Since 1788 by Christopher Cowles and David Walker (Apples from Oz, 2005)