Readings Prize Explained

First presented in 2014, the Readings Prize is an Australian literary award across three separate categories of fiction: Children's, Young Adult and New Australian Fiction.^[1] It is run by Readings bookstores, an independent Melbourne bookseller with eight stores, established in 1969.^[2] In 2016, Readings won International Bookstore of the Year at the London Book Fair, a category open to all stores outside of the UK.^[3] Every year, a shortlist of six titles is selected by a revolving panel of Readings staff. Once the shortlist has been decided, a guest judge then joins the panel to select a winner. The Prize is awarded to the work of highest literary merit.^[4]

Readings owner Mark Rubbo said about the awards: 'It can be difficult for debut and second-time authors to attract attention, especially when the heavy-hitters dominate the media. We established the prizes to attract readers who might not necessarily pick up these books otherwise.'^[5]

Created to "financially reward and promote debut and second-time authors of children's, young adult, and new Australian fiction", the Readings Prizes "support new and outstanding Australian voices".^[6]

Winners of the New Australian Fiction Prize include: Jessica Au,^[7] Alice Robinson,^[8] Andrew Pippos, Jennifer Down, Elizabeth Tan, Stephanie Bishop,^[9] Sam Carmody,^[10] Zoe Morrison, and Ceridwen Dovey.

In 2023, Readings awarded an additional young adult book prize: the Gab Williams Prize will ‘honour previous prize manager and young adult author Gab Williams, who passed away suddenly in January 2023', said Readings. The winner of the new prize is chosen by the Readings Teen Advisory Board, who are readers aged between 14 and 19 years, from the Readings YA Book Prize shortlist.^[11] The inaugural winner of the Gab Williams Prize was Completely Normal (and Other Lies) by Biffy James (HGCP) in 2023.^[12]

Past shortlists and winners

!Year!Prize!Shortlist!Winner

2023	New Australian Fiction Prize	Time and Tide in Sarajevo (Bronwyn Birdsall, Affirm) A Country of Eternal Light (Paul Dalgarno, Fourth Estate) Hydra (Adriane Howell, Transit Lounge) Funny Ethnics (Shirley Le, Affirm) Search History (Amy Taylor, A&U)<ref name=":0">Web site: Readings New Australian Fiction Prize 2023 shortlist announced . 2023-08-30 . Books+Publishing . en-AU.	All That's Left Unsaid (Tracey Lien, HQ)[13]
	Children's Book Prize	The Bookseller's Apprentice (Amelia Mellor, Affirm) The Eerie Excavation (An Alice England Mystery) (Ash Harrier, Pantera) Evie and Rhino (Neridah McMullin, illus by Astred Hicks, Walker) Sea Glass (Rebecca Fraser, Wombat Books) The Wintrish Girl (Talismans of Fate, Book 1) (Melanie La'Brooy, UQP)	No Words (Maryam Master, Pan)
	Young Adult Book Prize	Dancing Barefoot (Alice Boyle, Text) Spice Road (Maiya Ibrahim, Hodderscape) Completely Normal (And Other Lies) (Biffy James, Hardie Grant) The Upwelling (Lystra Rose, Lothian) Where You Left Us (Rhiannon Wilde, UQP)	If You Could See the Sun (Ann Liang, Harlequin Teen)
	Gab Williams Prize		Completely Normal (and Other Lies) by Biffy James (HGCP)[14]
2022	New Australian Fiction Prize	Cold Enough for Snow (Jessica Au, Giramondo) Hovering (Rhett Davis, Hachette) Losing Face (George Haddad, UQP) Love & Virtue (Diana Reid, Ultimo) Loveland (Robert Lukins, A&U) Sunbathing (Isobel Beech, A&U)<ref>Web site: Mem: 10091656 . Readings announces New Australian Fiction Prize 2022 shortlist Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.	Cold Enough for Snow (Jessica Au, Giramondo)[15]
	Children's Book Prize	A Glasshouse of Stars (Shirley Marr, Puffin) Little Gem (Anna Zobel, Puffin) My Brother Ben (Peter Carnavas, UQP) The Sugarcane Kids and the Red Bottomed Boat (Charlie Archbold, Text) Treasure in the Lake (Jason Pamment, A&U) Wylah the Koorie Warrior #1: Guardians (Jordan Gould & Richard Pritchard, Albert Street Books)[16]	The Sugarcane Kids and the Red Bottomed Boat (Charlie Archbold, Text)[17]
	Young Adult Book Prize	The Museum of Broken Things (Lauren Draper, Text) Sugar Town Queens (Malla Nunn, A&U) Sunburnt Veils (Sara Haghdoosti, Wakefield Press) Underground (Mirranda Burton, A&U) We Who Hunt the Hollow (Kate Murray, Hardie Grant Children's) What We All Saw (Mike Lucas, Penguin)[18]	Underground (Mirranda Burton, A&U)<ref>Web site: Mem: 10177952 . Au, Burton, Archbold win 2022 Readings Prizes Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
2021	New Australian Fiction Prize	New Animal (Ella Baxter, A&U) She is Haunted (Paige Clark, A&U) Echolalia (Briohny Doyle, Vintage) Lucky's (Andrew Pippos, Picador) Song of the Crocodile (Nardi Simpson, Hachette) Born into This (Adam Thompson, UQP)[19]	Lucky's (Andrew Pippos, Picador)[20]
	Children's Book Prize	The Power of Positive Pranking (Nat Amoore, Puffin) The Year the Maps Changed (Danielle Binks, Lothian) Aussie Kids: Meet Taj at the Lighthouse (Maxine Beneba Clarke,  illus by Nicki Greenberg, Puffin) The Grandest Bookshop in the World (Amelia Mellor, Affirm) Bindi (Kirli Saunders, illus by Dub Leffler, Magabala Books) As Fast as I Can (Penny Tangey, UQP)[21]	As Fast as I Can (Penny Tangey, UQP)[22]
	Young Adult Book Prize	The F Team (Rawah Arja, Giramondo) Future Girl (Asphyxia, A&U) The End of the World is Bigger Than Love (Davina Bell, Text) The Boy From the Mish (Gary Lonesborough, A&U) Metal Fish, Falling Snow (Cath Moore, Text) Where We Begin (Christie Nieman, Pan)[23]	Future Girl (Asphyxia, A&U)<ref>Web site: Mem: 10061360 . ‘Future Girl’ wins 2021 Readings YA book prize Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
2020	New Australian Fiction Prize	The Animals in That Country (Laura Jean McKay, Scribe) Dolores (Lauren Aimee Curtis, W&N) Lucky Ticket (Joey Bui, Text) A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing (Jessie Tu, A&U) Smart Ovens for Lonely People (Elizabeth Tan, Brio) The House of Youssef (Yumna Kassab, Giramondo)[24]	Smart Ovens for Lonely People (Elizabeth Tan)
	Children's Book Prize	Pie in the Sky (Remy Lai, Walker Books) The Dog Runner (Bren MacDibble, A&U) Wombat, Mudlark, and Other Stories (Helen Milroy, Fremantle Press) Sherlock Bones & the Natural History Mystery (Renée Treml, A&U) The Girl, the Cat and the Navigator (Matilda Woods, Scholastic) The Secrets of Magnolia Moon (Edwina Wyatt, illus by Katherine Quinn, Walker Books)[25]	The Girl, the Cat and the Navigator (Matilda Woods, Scholastic)[26]
	Young Adult Book Prize	Devil's Ballast (Meg Caddy, Text) The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling (Wai Chim, A&U) Ghost Bird (Lisa Fuller, UQP) Invisible Boys (Holden Sheppard, Fremantle Press) Everywhere Everything Everyone (Katy Warner, Hardie Grant Egmont) Take the Shot (Susan White, Affirm)	Ghost Bird (Lisa Fuller, UQP)
2019	New Australian Fiction Prize	A Constant Hum (Alice Bishop, Text) Inappropriation (Lexi Freiman, A&U) The Flight of Birds (Joshua Lobb, Sydney University Press) A Superior Spectre (Angela Meyer, Ventura) This Taste for Silence (Amanda O'Callaghan, UQP) The Glad Shout (Alice Robinson, Affirm)	The Glad Shout (Alice Robinson, Affirm)[27]
2019	Children's Book Prize	Ice Wolves: Elementals Book One (Amie Kaufman, HarperCollins) The Orchard Underground (Mat Larkin, Hardie Grant Egmont) Real Pigeons Fight Crime (Andrew McDonald, illus by Ben Wood, Hardie Grant Egmont) Black Cockatoo (Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler, Magabala) The Peacock Detectives (Carly Nugent, Text) Ottilie Colter and the Narroway Hunt (Rhiannon Williams, Hardie Grant Egmont)[28]	The Peacock Detectives (Carly Nugent)[29]
2019	Young Adult Book Prize	Highway Bodies (Alison Evans, Echo) What I Like About Me (Jenna Guillaume, Pan) Stone Girl (Eleni Hale, Penguin) Making Friends with Alice Dyson (Poppy Nwosu, Wakefield) Unmasked (Young Adult Edition) (Turia Pitt, Random House) The Learning Curves of Vanessa Partridge (Clare Strahan, A&U)<ref>Web site: Mem: 10066264 . Readings YA Prize 2019 shortlist announced Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.	Stone Girl (Eleni Hale, Penguin)
2018	New Australian Fiction Prize	Flames (Robbie Arnott, Text) Pulse Points (Jennifer Down, Text) The Fireflies of Autumn (Moreno Giovannoni, Black Inc.) Pink Mountain on Locust Island (Jamie Marina Lau, Brow Books) The Town (Shaun Prescott, Brow Books) The Lucky Galah (Tracey Sorensen, Picador)[30]	Pulse Points (Jennifer Down, Text)[31]
	Children's Book Prize	Tarin of the Mammoths: The Exile (Jo Sandhu, Penguin) (Jessica Townsend, Lothian) Lintang and the Pirate Queen (Tamara Moss, Random House) The Boy, the Bird and the Coffin Maker (Matilda Woods, Scholastic) The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone (Jaclyn Moriarty, A&U) Home Time (Campbell Whyte, Top Shelf Productions)[32]	Tarin of the Mammoths: The Exile (Jo Sandhu, Penguin)[33]
	Young Adult Book Prize	Small Spaces (Sarah Epstein, Walker Books) Amelia Westlake (Erin Gough, Hardie Grant Egmont) Between Us (Clare Atkins, Black Inc.) This Mortal Coil (Emily Suvada, Penguin) Beautiful Mess (Claire Christian, Text) Untidy Towns (Kate O'Donnell, UQP)[34]	Amelia Westlake (Erin Gough, Hardie Grant Egmont)[35]
2017	New Australian Fiction Prize	Australia Day (Melanie Cheng, Text) Jean Harley Was Here (Heather Taylor Johnson, UQP) The Good People (Hannah Kent, Picador) The Lost Pages (Marija Peričić, A&U) From the Wreck (Jane Rawson, Transit Lounge)[36]	The Windy Season (Sam Carmody)[37]
2016	New Australian Fiction Prize	Portable Curiosities (Julie Koh, UQP) The High Places (Fiona McFarlane, Hamish Hamilton) Wood Green (Sean Rabin, Giramondo) Ruins (Rajith Savanadasa, Hachette) Salt Creek (Lucy Treloar, Picador)[38]	Music and Freedom (Zoë Morrison)[39]
2015	New Australian Fiction Prize	Last Day in the Dynamite Factory (Annah Faulkner, Picador) In the Quiet (Eliza Henry-Jones, HarperCollins) Arms Race (Nic Low, Text) Hot Little Hands (Abigail Ulman, Hamish Hamilton) Heat and Light (Ellen van Neerven, UQP)[40]	The Other Side of the World (Stephanie Bishop)[41] [42]
2014	New Australian Fiction Prize	After Darkness (Christine Piper, A&U) An Elegant Young Man (Luke Carman, Giramondo) Foreign Soil (Maxine Beneba Clarke, Hachette) The Night Guest (Fiona McFarlane, Hamish Hamilton) The Tribe (Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Giramondo)[43]	Only the Animals (Ceridwen Dovey)[44]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Readings Prize — Readings Books . 2023-07-30 . www.readings.com.au . en.
2. Web site: Steger . Jason . 2023-07-30 . One of ‘the world’s great booksellers’ ends a long chapter at Readings . 2023-07-30 . The Age . en.
3. News: Harmon . Steph . 2016-04-16 . Breaking borders: how to make the best bookshop in the world . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-07-31 . 0261-3077.
4. Web site: Readings Prize Winners . 2023-07-31 . www.goodreads.com.
5. Web site: Mem: 10183096 . Au, Burton, Archbold win 2022 Readings Prizes Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
6. Web site: Mem: 10279080 . Readings Young Adult Prize 2023 shortlist announced Books+Publishing . 2023-08-26 . en-AU.
7. Web site: 2022-10-27 . Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au wins the 2022 Readings Prize for Fiction . 2023-07-31 . Giramondo Publishing . en-AU.
8. Web site: Mem: 10169160 . ‘The Glad Shout’ wins Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
9. Web site: Cooke . Dewi . 2015-10-27 . Stephanie Bishop wins Readings Prize for new Australian fiction . 2023-07-31 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
10. Web site: Steger . Jason . 2017-10-24 . Sam Carmody wins Readings fiction prize . 2023-07-31 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
11. Web site: Mem: 10279192 . Readings Young Adult Prize 2023 shortlist announced Books+Publishing . 2023-08-26 . en-AU.
12. Web site: Mem: 11669552 . Completely Normal (and Other Lies) wins inaugural Gab Williams Prize Books+Publishing . 2023-11-17 . en-AU.
13. Web site: 2023-10-25 . Master, Liang, Lien win 2023 Readings Prizes . 2023-10-26 . Books+Publishing.
14. Web site: Mem: 11670648 . Completely Normal (and Other Lies) wins inaugural Gab Williams Prize Books+Publishing . 2023-11-17 . en-AU.
15. Web site: Mem: 10189296 . Au, Burton, Archbold win 2022 Readings Prizes Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
16. Web site: Mem: 10118792 . Readings announces Children’s Book Prize 2022 shortlist Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
17. Web site: Mem: 10177840 . Au, Burton, Archbold win 2022 Readings Prizes Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
18. Web site: Mem: 10059912 . Readings YA Book Prize 2022 shortlist announced Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
19. Web site: Mem: 10087344 . Readings announces 2021 New Australian Fiction Prize shortlist Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
20. Web site: Evans . Tom . 2021-11-09 . 'Lucky's' by Andrew Pippos has won the 2021 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction . 2023-07-31 . Pan Macmillan Australia . en-AU.
21. Web site: 2021-02-26 . Readings Children’s Book Prize 2021 shortlist announced . 2023-10-26 . Books+Publishing.
22. Web site: Mem: 10106240 . ‘As Fast as I Can’ wins Readings Children’s Book Prize 2021 Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
23. Web site: Readings YA Book Prize 2021 shortlist announced . 2023-07-31 . Books+Publishing . en-AU.
24. Web site: Readings announces 2020 New Australian Fiction Prize shortlist . 2023-07-31 . Books+Publishing . en-AU.
25. Web site: Readings Children’s Book Prize 2020 shortlist announced . 2023-07-31 . Books+Publishing . en-AU.
26. Web site: Matilda Woods wins the Readings Children's Book Prize 2020 — Readings Books . 2023-07-31 . www.readings.com.au . en.
27. Web site: Alice Robinson wins the 2019 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction — Readings Books . 2023-07-31 . www.readings.com.au . en.
28. Web site: Mem: 10098216 . Readings Children’s Book Prize 2019 shortlist announced Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
29. Web site: Carly Nugent wins the 2019 Readings Children’s Book Prize — Readings Books . 2023-07-31 . www.readings.com.au . en.
30. Web site: 2018-08-22 . Readings announces 2018 New Australian Fiction Award shortlist . 2023-10-26 . Books+Publishing.
31. Web site: Mem: 10106712 . ‘Pulse Points’ wins 2018 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
32. Web site: Mem: 10095952 . Readings Children’s Book Prize 2018 shortlist announced Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
33. Web site: Jo Sandhu wins the 2018 Readings Children's Book Prize — Readings Books . 2023-07-31 . www.readings.com.au . en.
34. Web site: Mem: 10080184 . Readings YA Prize 2018 shortlist announced Books+Publishing . 2023-07-31 . en-AU.
35. Web site: Erin Gough wins the 2018 Readings Young Adult Book Prize — Readings Books . 2023-07-31 . www.readings.com.au . en.
36. Web site: 2017-08-22 . Readings announces 2017 New Australian Fiction Award shortlist . 2023-10-26 . Books+Publishing.
37. Web site: Sam Carmody wins the 2017 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction — Readings Books . 2023-07-31 . www.readings.com.au . en.
38. Web site: 2016-08-23 . Readings announces 2016 New Australian Writing Award shortlist . 2023-10-26 . Books+Publishing.
39. Web site: Zoë Morrison wins the 2016 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction — Readings Books . 2023-07-31 . www.readings.com.au . en.
40. Web site: 2015-08-25 . Readings New Australian Writing Award 2015 shortlist announced . 2023-10-26 . Books+Publishing.
41. Web site: 2015-10-27 . ‘The Other Side of the World’ wins 2015 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction . 2023-10-26 . Books+Publishing.
42. Web site: Stephanie Bishop wins The Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction — Readings Books . 2023-07-31 . www.readings.com.au . en.
43. Web site: 2014-08-27 . Readings New Australian Writing Award 2014 shortlist announced . 2023-10-26 . Books+Publishing.
44. Web site: 2014-10-28 . ‘Only the Animals’ wins inaugural Readings New Australian Writing Award . 2023-10-26 . Books+Publishing.