ABIA AWARDS 2023 - WINNERS

May 30, 2023

The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) celebrate the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Australian books to readers.

Winners for the Australian Book Industry Awards are determined through a process of selection, first by the ABIA Academy of more than 200 industry professionals, and then a shortlist and winners are chosen by our Judging Panels.

Biography Book of the Year

WINNER: My Dream Time - Ash Barty
Ten Steps to Nanette - Hannah Gadsby (A&U)
The Boy from Boomerang Crescent - Eddie Betts (S&S)
Heartstrong - Ellidy Pullin (Hachette)
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner - Grace Tame (Macmillan)

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

WINNER: The Blood Traitor - Lynette Noni
If You Could See the Sun - Ann Liang (HarperCollins Publishers, HQ Young Adult)
The Jammer - Nova Weetman (UQP)
Unnecessary Drama - Nina Kenwood (Text Publishing)
Sugar - Carly Nugent (Text Publishing)

Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7–12)

WINNER: Runt - Craig Silvey
The Bookseller’s Apprentice - Amelia Mellor (Affirm)
Guardians: Wylah the Koorie Warrior 1 - Jordan Gould & Richard Pritchard (Albert Street Books)
A Girl Called Corpse: An Elston-Fright Tale - Reece Carter, illus by Simon Howe (A&U)
Waiting for the Storks - Katrina Nannestad (ABC Books)

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

WINNER: What to say when you don't know what to say - Davina Bell and Hilary Jean Tapper
Floof - Heidi McKinnon (Albert Street Books)
Ceremony: Welcome to Our Country - Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing, illus by David
Hardy (A&U)
Be Careful, Xiao Xin! - Alice Pung & Sher Rill Ng (Working Title)
Miimi Marraal, Mother Earth - Melissa Greenwood (ABC Books)

General Fiction Book of the Year

WINNER: Dirt Town - Hayley Scrivenor
The Tilt - Chris Hammer (A&U)
Exiles - Jane Harper (Macmillan)
Day’s End - Garry Disher (Text)
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone (Benjamin Stevenson, Michael Joseph)

General Non-Fiction Book of the Year

WINNER: Bulldozed - Niki Savva
The Space Between the Stars - Indira Naidoo (Murdoch Books)
Bedtime Story - Chloe Hooper (Scribner)
Investing with She’s on the Money - Victoria Devine (Penguin Life)

Illustrated Book of the Year

WINNER: RecipeTin Eats: Dinner - Nagi Maehashi
First Nations Food Companion - Damien Coulthard & Rebecca Sullivan (Murdoch Books)
Lune - Kate Reid (Hardie Grant)
Cressida Campbell (National Gallery of Australia)
Yiayia Next Door - Daniel and Luke Mancuso (Plum)

International Book of the Year

WINNER: Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O’Farrell (Headline)
Young Mungo - Douglas Stuart (Picador)
The Bullet That Missed - Richard Osman (Viking UK)
Stolen Focus - Johann Hari (Bloomsbury)

Literary Fiction Book of the Year

WINNER: Horse - Geraldine Brooks
All That’s Left Unsaid - Tracey Lien (HQ Fiction)
The Sun Walks Down - Fiona McFarlane (A&U)
Seeing Other People - Diana Reid (Ultimo Press)
Limberlost - Robbie Arnott (Text)

Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year

WINNER: The Dreaming Path - Paul Callaghan
Humanity’s Moment - Joëlle Gergis (Black Inc.)
Cold Enough for Snow - Jessica Au (Giramondo)
Tell Me Again - Amy Thunig (UQP)
Warlpiri Encyclopaedic Dictionary - Mary Laughren, Kenneth Hale, Jeannie Nungarrayi Egan, Marlurrku Paddy Patrick Jangala, Robert Hoogenraad, David Nash & Jane Simpson (Aboriginal Studies Press)

Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year

WINNER: Off to the Market - Alice Oehr
My Shadow is Purple - Scott Stuart (Larrikin House)
Koori Princess - Anita Heiss (Magabala)
A Tiny Light - Alison Lester (UQP)
The Brink - Holden Sheppard (Text)

Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year

WINNER: Wake - Shelley Burr
Tell Me Again - Amy Thunig (UQP)
Dirt Town - Hayley Scrivenor (Macmillan)
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner - Grace Tame (Macmillan)
Root & Branch: Essays on inheritance - Eda Gunaydin (NewSouth)
All That’s Left Unsaid - Tracey Lien (HQ Fiction)

Audiobook of the Year

WINNER: The Whitewash - Siang Lu
Ten Steps to Nanette - narrated by Hannah Gadsby, (Wavesound)
Life: What Nat to Do: A hot take on advice you never asked for - narrated by Nat’s What I Reckon, (PRH Audio)
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner - narrated by Grace Tame (Macmillan Audio)
Lisa - narrated by Lisa Curry (HarperAudio)

Social Impact Book of the Year

WINNER: The Boy from Boomerang Crescent - Eddie Betts (S&S)
Come Together - Isaiah Firebrace illustrated by Jaelyn Biumaiwai (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Explore)
How Many More Women - Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida (Allen & Unwin)
Not Now, Not Ever - Julia Gillard (Penguin Random House, Australia Vintage)
Freedom, Only Freedom - Behrouz Boochani, anthology editors Moones Mansoubi and Omid Tofighian (Bloomsbury Publishing, Bloomsbury Academic (AUS))

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