Books of the Year: Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) 2018 Announced!

The Australian Publishers Association has announced its shortlist for the 2018 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs), featuring some of the biggest names in the Australian book industry, including  literary luminaries Peter Carey, Richard Flanagan, Jane Harper, Monica McInerney, and Michael Robotham. 

For the past 18 years, the ABIAs have showcased the best of Australian story-tellers, booksellers and publishers. The ABIA’s are the Oscars of the book industry, with some of the country’s best authors, celebrities and political figures expected to attend the award ceremony on Thursday May 3 at the ICC Sydney, hosted by ABC TV’s Ben Jenkins and Zoe Norton-Lodge.

 The ABIA Voting Academy is made up of over 250 representatives from across the bookselling and publishing industry as well as additional specialist experts. 

  The ABIA Shorlist 2008 is:

Biography Book of the Year

·         Danger Music, Eddie Ayres (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)

·         Tracker, Alexis Wright (Giramondo Publishing, Giramondo Publishing Company)

·         Unbreakable, Jelena Dokic and Jess Halloran (Ebury Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)

·         Unmasked, Turia Pitt (Ebury Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)

·         Working Class Man, Jimmy Barnes (HarperCollins Publishers, HarperCollins Publishers)

General Fiction Book of the Year

·         Force of Nature, Jane Harper (Macmillan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)

·         The Dark Lake, Sarah Bailey (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)

·         The Inaugural Meeting Of The Fairvale Ladies Book Club, Sophie Green (Hachette, Hachette Australia)

·         The Secrets She Keeps, Michael Robotham (Hachette, Hachette Australia)

·         The Trip of A Lifetime, Monica McInerney (Michael Joseph Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)

General Non-fiction Book of the Year

·         Being 14, Madonna King  (Hachette, Hachette Australia)

·         Depends What You Mean By Extremist, John Safran (Hamish Hamilton Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)

·         First, We Make The Beast Beautiful, Sarah Wilson (Macmillan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)  

·         Saga Land, Richard Fidler and Kári Gíslason (ABC Books, HarperCollins Publishers)

·         The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster, Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)

Illustrated Book of the Year

·         Basics to Brilliance Kids, Donna Hay (Fourth Estate, HarperCollins Publishers)

·         Maggie’s Recipe for Life, Maggie Beer and Professor Ralph Martins (A Julie Gibbs Book for Simon & Schuster Australia, Simon & Schuster Australia)

·         Native: Art and Design with Australian Plants, Kate Herd and Jela Ivankovic-Waters (Thames & Hudson Australia, Thames & Hudson Australia)

·         Ostro, Julia Busuttil Nishimura (Plum, Pan Macmillan Australia)

·         Paris: Through a Fashion Eye, Megan Hess (Hardie Grant Books, Hardie Grant Publishing)

International Book of the Year

·         Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman  (HarperCollins Publishers, HarperCollins Publishers)

·         Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, Elena Favilli and Francesa Cavallo (Particular Books -UK Juvenile, Penguin Random House Australia)

·         Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)

·         La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One, Philip Pullman (David Fickling Books, Penguin Random House Australia)

·         Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders (Bloomsbury Publishing, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Literary Fiction Book of the Year

·         A Long Way Home, Peter Carey (Hamish Hamilton Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)

·         First Person, Richard Flanagan (Knopf Australia, Penguin Random House Australia)

·         See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt (Hachette, Hachette Australia)

·         The Choke, Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)

·         Wimmera, Mark Brandi (Hachette, Hachette Australia)

Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year

·         Call of the Reed Warbler – A New Agriculture – A New Earth, Charles Massy (The University of Queensland Press, The University of Queensland Press)

·         Cardinal, Louise Milligan (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne University Publishing)

·         The Australian Bird Guide, Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack and Kim Franklin (CSIRO Publishing, CSIRO Publishing)

·         The Restorer,  Michael Sala (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)

·         Museum of Words, Georgia Blain (Scribe Publications, Scribe Publications)

Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year

·         Big Fella Rain, Beryl Webber and illustrated by Fern Martins (Magabala Books, Magabala Books)

·         Hello, Melbourne!, Megan McKean (Thames & Hudson Australia, Thames & Hudson Australia)

·         It’s OK to Feel the Way You Do, Josh Langley (Big Sky Publishing, Big Sky Publishing)

·         The Elephant, Peter Carnavas (The University of Queensland Press, The University of Queensland Press)

·         Under the Love Umbrella, Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys  (Scribble Kids’ Books, Scribe Publications)

The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year

·         Nevermoor, Jessica Townsend (Lothian Children’s Books, Hachette Australia)

·         Terra Nullius, Claire G Coleman (Hachette, Hachette Australia)

·         The Girl from Munich, Tania Blanchard (Simon & Schuster Australia, Simon & Schuster Australia)

·         The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster, Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)

·         Wimmera, Mark Brandi (Hachette, Hachette Australia)

Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)

·         Beautiful Mess, Claire Christian (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)

·         Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, Amie Kaufman, Melissa Keil, Will Kostakis, Ellie Marney, Jaclyn Moriarty, Michael Pryor, Alice Pung, Gabrielle Tozer, Lili Wilkinson and Danielle Binks (HarperCollins Publishers, HarperCollins Publishers)

·         My Life as a Hashtag, Gabrielle Williams (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)

·         Tales From a Tall Forest, Shaun Micallef and illustrated by Jonathan Bentley (Hardie Grant Egmont, Hardie Grant Egmont)

·         The Silent Invasion, James Bradley (Pan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)  

Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-13)

·         Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase, Peter Helliar and illustrated by Lesley Vamos (Hardie Grant Egmont, Hardie Grant Egmont)

·         Funny Kid for President, Matt Stanton (ABC Books, HarperCollins Publishers)

·         Nevermoor, Jessica Townsend (Lothian Children’s Books, Hachette Australia)

·         Polly and Buster: The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster, Sally Rippin (Hardie Grant Egmont, Hardie Grant Egmont)

·         The 91-Storey Treehouse, Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton (Pan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)

Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)

·         Do Not Lick This Book, Idan Ben-Barak and illustrated by Julian Frost (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)

·         Florette,  Anna Walker (Viking – AU YR, Penguin Random House Australia)

·         I’m Australian Too,  Mem Fox and illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh (Scholastic Press, Scholastic Australia)

·         No One Likes a Fart, Zoë Foster Blake (Viking – AU YR, Penguin Random House Australia)

·         Pig the Star, Aaron Blabey (Scholastic Press, Scholastic Australia)

Audiobook of the Year

·         The Attachment: Letters From a Most Unlikely Friendship, Written & Narrated by Ailsa Piper and Tony Doherty (Wavesound Pty Ltd)                    

·         Try Hard: Tales from the Life of a Needy Overachiever (With Extra Sass), Written & Narrated by Em Rusciano (Wavesound Pty Ltd)

·         Marge and the Great Train Rescue, Written & Narrated by Isla Fisher (Bolinda Publishing)

·         Working Class Boy            , Written & Narrated by Jimmy Barnes (Bolinda Audio)

·         The 91-Storey Treehouse, Written & Illustrated by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton. Narrated by Stig Weymss (Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd)                     

Rising Star of the Year shortlist

·         Ali Hammond (Category Manager, Dymocks Booksellers)

·         Cate Blake (Commissioning Editor, Penguin Random House)

·         Lex Hirst (Commissioning Editor, Penguin Random House)

·         Patrizia Di Biase-Dyson (Publicity Manager, Allen & Unwin)

·         Shalini Kunahlan (Marketing Manager, Text Publishing)

Keep up with all your ABIA 2018 news at:

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