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2024
Applications closed

 

The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards honour distinguished achievement by Australian writers. They contribute to Australia’s artistic reputation, and draw national and international attention to some of our best writers and to the cultural environment that nurtures them.

Entries to the 2024 NSW Premier's Literary Awards have now closed.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the State Library of NSW on Monday 20 May 2024. Registrations to the ceremony will be available from mid-April. Subscribe to the Awards enewsletter to be kept up-to-date with announcements, events and more.  

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View past winners below. 

The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards are administered by the State Library of NSW, in association with Create NSW, and with the support of Multicultural NSW, the University of Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney.

For more information, please contact the Awards team at the State Library of NSW (02) 9273 1582 or (02) 9273 1767 or awards@sl.nsw.gov.au

Award categories

View the shortlists and past winners for each category

photo of bernadette brennan

Dr Bernadette Brennan

Senior Judge

Bernadette Brennan is a critic and researcher of contemporary Australian writing. She is the author of a number of publications, including a monograph on Brian Castro and two edited collections: Just Words?: Australian Authors Writing for Justice (UQP), and Ethical Investigations: Essays on Australian Literature and Poetics (Vagabond). In 2017 she published her award-winning literary biography A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work (Text). Her most recent book, Leaping Into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears (A&U), was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Douglas Stewart award and won the Magarey Medal for Biography and the National Biography Award.

About the Awards

The NSW Government is committed to increasing public engagement with the arts.

The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards are held annually. They are the richest and longest running state-based literary awards in Australia and cover all genres of writing. 

The Awards provide an opportunity to highlight the importance of literacy and to encourage everyone to enjoy and learn from the work of our writers. These annual awards honour distinguished achievement by Australian writers, contribute to Australia’s artistic reputation, and draw international attention to some of our best writers and to the cultural environment that nurtures them.

Past winners have included such notable writers as Peter Carey, David Malouf AO, Elizabeth Jolley, Thomas Keneally AO, Tony Birch, Helen Garner, Ellen Van Neerven and Michelle de Kretzer. 

Writers, translators and illustrators whose works are nominated must be living Australian citizens or persons holding permanent resident status.

The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards are presented by the NSW Government and administered by the State Library in association with Create NSW. We are pleased to acknowledge the support of Multicultural NSW, the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and the University of Sydney.

For more information, please subscribe to our enewsletter or contact the Awards team at the State Library of NSW (02) 9273 1582 or (02) 9273 1767 or awards@sl.nsw.gov.au

Past events

2023 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards winner announcement

Announcement of the 2023 NSW Premier's Literary Awards winners.

2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards winner announcement

Announcement of the 2022 NSW Premier's Literary Awards winners.