Victorian Premier's Literary Awards


The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary prize with the top winner receiving 125,000 and category winners 25,000 each.
The awards were established in 1985 by John Cain, Premier of Victoria, to mark the centenary of the births of Vance and Nettie Palmer, two of Australia's best-known writers and critics who made significant contributions to Victorian and Australian literary culture.
From 1986 till 1997, the awards were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. In 1997 their administration was transferred to the State Library of Victoria. By 2004, the total prize money was 180,000. In 2011, stewardship was taken over by the Wheeler Centre.

Winners 2011–present

Beginning in 2011, the awards were restructured into five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Drama and Young People's. The winner of each receives $25,000. Of those five winners, one is chosen as the overall winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature and receives an additional $100,000. There are two other categories with different prize amounts: an honorary People's Choice Award voted on by readers, and an Unpublished Manuscript Award with a prize amount of $15,000. In 2022 an Award for Children's Literature valued at $25,000 was added, with entries being accepted in 2023. Another category was added in 2024, the John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing, honouring satirist John Clarke, for fiction, nonfiction and poetry.
Shortlists are maintained in the main article for each category.

Fiction

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction.

Nonfiction

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction.

Poetry

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry.

Writing for Young Adults

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction.

Drama

For winners from 1985 to 2010, see the Louis Esson Prize for Drama.

Unpublished Manuscript

For winners from 2003 to 2010, see the main article. No award was presented in 2011.
YearAuthorTitleRef.
2012
2013Foreign Soil
2014Fever of Animals
2015
2016Australia Day
2017Decay Theory
2019Kokomo
2020Hovering
2021Anam
2022Fauna of Mirrors
2023One Divine Night
2024Panajachel
2025I Made This Just for You

Indigenous Writing

YearAuthorTitleRef.
2004Her Sister's Eye
2006Swallow the Air
2008Anonymous Premonition
2010Legacy
2012Am I Black Enough For You?
2014Mullumbimby
2016Ghost River
2019Taboo
2021Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music
2022Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience
2023The Upwelling
2024Close to the Subject: Selected Works
2025Black Witness

Defunct award categories (1985–2010)

From 1985 to 2010 prizes were offered in some or all of the below categories.