Forget the Oscars — this week, it’s all about the Australian Book Industry Awards! The 2021 ABIA winners were revealed last night in a lavish in-person celebration at Carriageworks hosted by performer Casey Bennetto and livestreamed across Australia. The Awards themselves were presented by notable figures such as Cate Blanchett, Matthew McConaughey, Nat’s What I Reckon, Courtney Act, Malcolm Turnbull and, of course, our very own fiction expert Ben Hunter.
The big winner of the 2021 ABIA ceremony was Dr Julia Baird, whose non-fiction book Phosphorescence took out both the Book of the Year and the General Non-Fiction Book of the Year awards. Three awards went to books by First Nations Authors such as Kirli Saunders and Adam Briggs, while the fiction categories were dominated by women with exceptional debut novels such as Jessie Tu and Pip Williams.
The 2021 ABIA winners weren’t all authors, however – there were some fantastic wins for industry figures and companies alike. Mandy Macky of Dymocks Rundle Mall in Adelaide won the Lloyd O’Neil Hall of Fame Award, while children’s publisher Maryann Ballantyne of Wild Dog Books won the Pixie O’Harris Award. The publishing industry’s rising star was also announced as Pooja Desai, head of design for Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing.
Finally, indie Melbourne bookstore chain Readings won Book Retailer of the Year, while Bookshop of the Year went to Avid Reader of Brisbane — both stellar winners in a hard year for bookselling. In publishing, Penguin Random House Australia was named Australia’s Publisher of the Year, and University of Queensland Press was named Small Publisher of the Year.
That’s it for another year — scroll down to see the full list of 2021 ABIA winners!
ABIA Book of the Year
Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark by Julia Baird
Audio Book of the Year
Tell Me Why by Archie Roach; narrated by Archie Roach
Biography Book of the Year
The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-12)
The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor
Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)
Our Home, Our Heartbeat by Adam Briggs, Kate Moon and Rachael Sarra
General Fiction Book of the Year
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
General Non-fiction Book of the Year
Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark by Julia Baird
Illustrated Book of the Year
In Praise of Veg by Alice Zaslavsky
International Book of the Year
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Literary Fiction Book of the Year
A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing by Jessie Tu
Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year
The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year
Bindi by Kirli Saunders and Dub Leffler (Illustrator)
The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year
The Coconut Children by Vivian Pham
Congratulations to all of the 2021 ABIA winners!
Find out more about the ABIAs here
Phosphorescence
On Awe, Wonder And Things That Sustain You When The World Goes Dark
A beautiful, intimate and inspiring investigation into how we can find and nurture within ourselves that essential quality of internal happiness - the 'light within' that Julia Baird calls 'phosphorescence' - which will sustain us even through the darkest times.
Over the last decade, we have become better at knowing what brings us contentment, well-being and joy. We know, for example, that there are a few core truths to science of happiness...
About the Contributor
Olivia Fricot
Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.
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