INDIE AWARDS 2026

 

Established in 2008, the Indie Book Awards celebrate the best Australian writing; and who better to nominate and judge the best-of-the-best than indie booksellers! What makes indie booksellers uniquely placed to judge and recommend the best Aussie books of the past year, is their incredible passion and knowledge, their contribution to the cultural diversity of the Australian reading public, by recommending beyond the big brands, and above all, their love of quality writing. The Awards recognise and celebrate indie booksellers as the number one supporters of Australian authors.

Australian independent booksellers nominate books for six categories shown below. The Longlist was announced on December 9, 2025.

Click the titles below to view the book:

• Lyrebird - Jane Caro (Allen & Unwin)
• Gravity Let Me Go - Trent Dalton (Fourth Estate Australia)
• Arborescence - Rhett Davis (Hachette Australia)
• Legacy - Chris Hammer (Allen & Unwin)
• Tenderfoot - Toni Jordan (Hachette Australia)
• Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy (Penguin Australia)
• One Hundred Years of Betty - Debra Oswald (Allen & Unwin)
• Mad Mabel - Sally Hepworth (Macmillan Australia)
• Where the Birds Call Her Name - Claire van Ryn (Penguin Australia)
• I Am Nannertgarrook - Tasma Walton (Bundyi, Simon & Schuster Australia)

• Australia: A History - Tony Abbott (HarperCollins Australia)
• Memorial Days - Geraldine Brooks (Hachette Australia)
• Defiance: Stories from Nature and Its Defenders - Bob Brown (Black Inc)
• The Mushroom Tapes - Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper & Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing)
• The Mushroom Murders - Greg Haddrick (Allen & Unwin)
• Always Home, Always Homesick - Hannah Kent (Picador Australia)
• Nature's Last Dance - Natalie Kyriacou (Affirm Press)
• A Bunker in Kyiv - John Lyons (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)
• Destination Moon - Kate Reid (Simon & Schuster Australia)
• Borneo: The Last Campaign - Michael Veitch (Hachette Australia)

• The Butterfly Women - Madeleine Cleary (Affirm Press)
• Pissants - Brandon Jack (Summit Books, Simon & Schuster Australia)
• The Grapevine - Kate Kemp (Hachette Australia)
• Very Impressive For Your Age - Eleanor Kirk (Allen & Unwin))
• Daughters of Batavia - Stefanie Koens (HarperCollins Australia)
• Melaleuca - Angie Faye Martin (HQ Fiction)
• The Wolf Tree - Laura McCluskey (HarperCollins Australia)
• Stillwater - Tanya Scott (Allen & Unwin)
• Eros: Myths for Lovers - Zoe Terakes (Hachette Australia)
• When Sleeping Women Wake - Emma Pei Yin (Hachette Australia)

• The ADHD Brain Buddy - Matilda Boseley (Penguin Australia)
• Planting for Native Birds, Bees and Butterflies - Jaclyn Crupi (Murdoch Books)
• Bush Modern - Jessica Lillico & Sean Fennessy (Thames & Hudson Australia)
• Handfuls of Sunshine - Tilly Pamment (Murdoch Books)
• Wild by Design - Tim Pilgrim (Murdoch Books)
• Funga Obscura: Photo journeys among fungi - Alison Pouliot (NewSouth Publishing)
• She Shapes History - Sita Sargeant (Hardie Grant Explore)
• W*nkernomics - James Schloeffel & Charles Firth (Hardie Grant Books)
• Muster Dogs: The Next Generation - Melissa Spencer, Monica O'Brien & Brianna Peacock (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)
• THAI - Nat Thaipun (Hardie Grant Books)

• If We Were Dogs - Sophie Blackall (Lothian Children's Books)
• Dropbear - Philip Bunting (Walker Books Australia)
• There's a Prawn in Parliament House: The Kids' Guide to Australia's Amazing Democracy - Annabel Crabb, illustrated by First Dog on the Moon (Allen & Unwin Children's)
• Dear Broccoli - Jo Dabrowski, illustrated by Cate James (Affirm Press Kids)
• Ninja Girl - Anh Do, illustrated by James Hart (Scholastic Press)
• Harry and Gran Bake a Cake - Fiona McIntosh, illustrated by Sara Acton (Puffin)
• Runt and the Diabolical Dognapping - Craig Silvey, illustrated by Sara Acton (Allen & Unwin Children's)
• Once I was a Giant - Zeno Sworder (Thames & Hudson Australia)
• Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend (Lothian Children's Books)
• Ningaloo - Tim Winton, illustrated by Cindy Lane (Fremantle Press)

• Catch - Sarah Brill (Allen & Unwin Children's)
• Cruel is the Light - Sophie Clark (Penguin Australia)
• The Foal in the Wire - Robbie Coburn (Lothian Children's Books)
• Eleanor Jones is Playing with Fire - Amy Doak (Penguin Australia)
• This Season's Draft - Jason Gent (Allen & Unwin Children's)
• Drift - Pip Harry (Lothian Children's Books)
• Darkest Night, Brightest Star - Barry Jonsberg (Allen & Unwin Children's)
• Wandering Wild - Lynette Noni (Penguin Australia)
• Sonny & Tess - Nova Weetman (University of Queensland Press)
• Unhallowed Halls - Lili Wilkinson (Allen & Unwin Children's)