The day has finally come! After weeks of nominations and voting, we have our Top 10 Favourite Australian Authors of 2018.

Before we move on to the fun stuff, we have to say a BIG thank you to everyone involved with this poll. To our amazing Australian authors, not only do you write the books we love and champion, but we have to thank you for your support of this campaign!

To the publishers, we couldn’t have done this without your tireless support, and your incredible passion for Australian books.

And last but not least, thank YOU readers. Your passion for Australian authors was amazing to see through all your thousands of nominations and votes. Booktopia is a proudly Australian owned and operated bookstore, created for Australians by Australians. Your support means the world to us. Thank you!

We think Australian authors are pretty damn important, and want to do whatever we can to support them. That’s why we set up this poll, and made January our month of Australian Stories.

Check out the authors ranked 50-41 here.

Check out the authors ranked 40-31 here.

Check out the authors ranked 30-21 here.

Check out the authors ranked 20-11 here.

Ok, we promise we’ll stop now and get onto the important stuff… the Top 10!

Australia’s Favourite Australian Authors: Top 10

10. Di Morrissey

Coming in at number 10 is Di Morrissey – one of the most successful authors Australia has ever produced! She trained as a journalist, working in the media around the world. Her fascination with different countries; their landscape, their cultural, political and environmental issues, forms the inspiration for her novels. 

Di is a tireless activist for many causes: opposing large scale development and commercial food chains into Byron Bay NSW, fighting gas and mining intrusion into sacred lands in the Kimberly, and stopping massive and unnecessary power lines intruding into the Manning Valley NSW. Di also established The Golden Land Education Foundation in Myanmar.

Some of Di’s many books include The Plantation, Monsoon, Rain Music and her most recent novel The Red Coast. Listen to our podcast interview with Di on The Red Coast here.

We have celebrated over 25 years of incredible Di Morrissey magic. Listen to our podcast with her on this incredible milestone here. Visit Di’s Booktopia author page.

9. Andy Griffiths

Next up is Mr. Andy Griffiths. Who, you ask? PFFT, just one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors! From his bestselling, award-winning Treehouse series—now published in more than 30 countries—to the JUST! books (both illustrated by long-time friend and collaborator Terry Denton) and The Day My Bum Went Psycho, Andy’s books have captivated and kept Australian kids laughing for more than twenty years. Adults, too. Many adults, all laughing hysterically.

Andy’s books have been New York Times bestsellers, adapted for stage and television and won over 70 Australian children’s choice awards. Andy, a passionate advocate for literacy, is an ambassador for The Indigenous Literacy Foundation and The Pyjama Foundation. Go Andy!

Visit Andy’s Booktopia author page.

8. Monica McInerney

She’s a star of Australian fiction. That’s right, we’re talking about Monica McInerney. We’re now going to list some of her internationally bestselling novels. Ready? Take a deep breath. A Taste for It, Upside Down Inside Out, Spin the Bottle, The Alphabet Sisters, Family Baggage, Those Faraday Girls and At Home with the Templetons.

Those Faraday Girls was the winner of the General Fiction Book of the Year at the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards. Her collection of short fiction, All Together Now, was shortlisted for the same award in 2009. At Home with the Templetons was shortlisted in the Popular Fiction category of the 2010 Irish Book Awards and in the Romantic Elements category of the 2011 Australian Romantic Book of the Year Awards. In 2006 she was the ambassador for the Australian Government initiative Books Alive, with her novella Odd One Out. Monica’s latest novel is called The Trip of a Lifetime and you can listen to our interview with her here.

Monica grew up in a family of seven children in the Clare Valley of South Australia and has been living between Australia and Ireland for twenty years. She and her Irish husband currently live in Dublin. Visit Monica’s Booktopia author page.

7. John Marsden

Whilst working at the prestigious Geelong Grammar School, following his dissatisfaction with his students’ apathy towards reading and the observation that teenagers simply weren’t reading any more, Marsden made the decision to write for teenagers. What a guy! Marsden then wrote So Much To Tell You in only three weeks (*impressed face*), and the book was published in 1987. The book sold record numbers and won numerous awards including Book of the Year as awarded by the Children’s Book Council of Australia.

In 1993 Marsden published Tomorrow, When the War Began the first book in the Tomorrow series and his most acclaimed and best-selling work to date. Recently it was selected in the American Library Association list of 100 Best Books for Teens since 1966.

Marsden has won every major writing award in Australia for young people’s fiction, including what Marsden describes as one of the highlights of his career, the 2006 Lloyd O’Neil Award for contributions to Australian publishing. This award means that Marsden is one of only five authors to be honoured for lifelong services to the Australian book industry. John Marsden was also nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2008, the world’s largest children’s and youth literature award, and the second largest literature prize in the world.

Visit John’s Booktopia author page.

6. Bryce Courtenay

You may have heard of a little book called The Power of One. Or maybe you saw the movie? If you haven’t seen or read this incredible story, please, GO NOW. Why? Much of it is based on Bryce’s own life.

Bryce was born in 1933 in South Africa, in an isolate community, among farm folk and African people. Sent to ‘boarding school’, he was taught to box as a means to stay alive. Now, we don’t want to say much more because that would spoil the story but, trust us, The Power of One is indeed a powerful story. More like ‘the power of one BOOK’.

Some of Bryce’s other books include Jessica, Tandia and The Australian Series – The Potato Factory, Tommo & Hawk and Solomon’s Song.

Bryce Courtenay died in 2012 at his home in Canberra, Australia. He was 79. Courtenay is survived by his second wife Christine Gee and his children Adam and Brett.

Visit Bryce’s Booktopia author page.

5. Tim Winton

Coming in at number 5 is the Tim Winton! Tim’s literary reputation was established early when his first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the 1981 Australian Vogel Award; his second novel Shallows, won the Miles Franklin Award in 1984; and his third book, Scission, a collection of short stories, won the West Australian Council Literary Award in 1985. Tim has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music).

That Eye, the Sky was adapted for the stage by Justin Monjo and Richard Roxburgh, and also made into a film. A second film adaptation was made of In the Winter Dark, featuring Brenda Blethyn.

Tim’s fifth novel, Cloudstreet (ring a bell?), the story of two working-class families rebuilding their lives, was a huge literary and commercial success. Not to mention Breath, Eyrie, The Boy Behind the Curtain… just to name a few! 

We sat down to chat with Tim about The Boy Behind the Curtain, listen here.

Tim’s upcoming novel is called The Shepherd’s Hut. Visit Tim’s Booktopia author page.

4. Anh Do

Time for a laugh with Anh Do, coming in at number 4. Anh is an author, actor and comedian – a real triple threat! He has appeared on many Australian TV shows such as Thank God You’re Here and Good News Week, and was runner-up on Dancing With The Stars in 2007. So he can dance too? Unfair! Not to mention his talent with a paint brush. Anh gets up close and personal with Australian celebrities on his very own TV show, Anh’s Brush with Fame, where he paints famous Aussies.

Some of Anh’s recent books include installations in his WeirDo series, The Hotdog series and What Do They Do With All the Poo From All the Animals At the Zoo? Try saying that ten times fast. Anh has recently come out with his own story in The Happiest Refugee, a laugh-out-loud, reach-for-your-hanky story.

Visit Anh’s Booktopia author page.

3. Mem Fox

We’re up to the final THREE Favourite Australian Authors of 2018. Let’s be honest, no one is really surprised that the incredible Mem Fox is sitting comfortable at #3. Some of Mem’s books that you may have heard of (note the sarcasm) are Baby Bedtime, Ducks Away! and, of course, Possum Magic. 

Her first book, Possum Magic, is the best selling children’s book ever in Australia, with sales of over three and a half million. And in the USA, Time for Bed and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge have each sold over a million copies. Time for Bed is on Oprah’s list of the twenty best children’s books of all time.

Mem Fox was born in Australia, grew up in Africa, studied drama in England, and returned to Adelaide, Australia in 1970, where she has lived with her husband, Malcolm, and daughter Chloe, happily ever after.

Listen to our interview with Mem on her recent book I’m Australian Too on the Booktopia podcast here. Visit Mem’s Booktopia author page.

2. Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of seven internationally best-selling novels, including Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist’s Love Story and the #1 New York Times bestsellers, The Husband’s Secret, Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty.

With the launch of Big Little Lies, Liane became the first Australian author to have a novel debut at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Film and television rights were snapped up by Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon and the series was a massive hit! Trust us, if you haven’t read or watched it, go now!

Truly Madly Guilty also debuted at #1 in its first week of publication on the New York Times bestseller list and both Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty were number one bestsellers in Australia. Listen to our podcast with Liane on Truly Madly Guilty here. Writing as L.M. Moriarty, Liane has also written a series of books for children.

A huge congratulations to Liane for being voted #2 in our #AusFaveAuthor poll! Visit Liane’s Booktopia author page.

1. Matthew Reilly

Here it is – our NUMBER ONE Favourite Australian Author, as voted by you. Matthew Reilly, everybody! Congratulations Matthew on this amazing achievement and a huge thank you to everyone who voted for Matthew. We had over 1000 authors nominated for this poll and after thousands of votes, the public has spoken. Matthew was also voted our #1 Favourite Australian Author last year.

Born July 2nd, 1974, Matthew Reilly is an international bestselling author for novels including Ice Station, Temple, Contest, Area 7, Scarecrow, Hover Car Racer, Seven Ancient Wonders, The Six Sacred Stones, The Five Greatest Warriors and The Four Legendary Kingdoms.

Matthew has been published in over 20 countries and his books have sold over 7.5 million copies around the world. 

As a young man, Matthew wasn’t too fond of set reading projects in high-school and was inspired to ‘do it better’. He wrote and self-published Contest in 1996 while just 19 years old, deliberately aiming to have his book noticed by publishers who talent-scout at bookstores. His dedication and hard work paid off and now Matthew is the bestselling author he is today. His first industry-produced novel, Ice Station, was so popular it had to be reprinted six times in the first two years after publication!

Sit back and listen to our interview with Matthew on The Four Legendary Kingdoms, book four in his Jack West Jr. series.

Just a few hours ago, Matthew dropped that book 5 in his Jack West Jr. series, The Three Secret Cities, is coming our way this November and it’s no surprise that his fans are going nuts (us included).

Visit Matthew’s Booktopia author page.

Check out the authors ranked 50-41 here.

Check out the authors ranked 40-31 here.

Check out the authors ranked 30-21 here.

Check out the authors ranked 20-11 here.

Once again, we’d like to thank you for all your nominations and votes! See you next year for #AusFaveAuthor.

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About the Contributor

Bronwyn Eley

Before entering the exciting world of books, Bronwyn served in the Royal Australian Air Force, travelled extensively and worked (still does!) as a barista on the weekends. Books are her true passion. Bronwyn's debut fantasy novel Relic is coming out in 2019 with indie publishing house Talem Press. They are to publish her entire trilogy called The Relic Trilogy. In her spare time, Bronwyn writes, reads and enjoys keeping fit (which she undoes by eating loads of chocolate) with Martial Arts and personal training. She can't answer what her favourite book is but she has a soft spot for Peter Pan (J.M Barrie), Outlander (Diana Gabaldon), Stardust (Neil Gaiman), The Illuminae Files (Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman) and Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo). Fantasy, sci-fi and YA make up the majority of her bookshelves.

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