Readings Bookshop in Carlton, the flagship store and home of the Readings Prize

First presented in 2014, the Readings Prize is an Australian literary award across three separate categories of fiction: Children's, Young Adult and New Australian Fiction.^[1] It is run by Readings bookstores, an independent Melbourne bookseller with eight stores, established in 1969.^[2] In 2016, Readings won International Bookstore of the Year at the London Book Fair, a category open to all stores outside of the UK.^[3] Every year, a shortlist of six titles is selected by a revolving panel of Readings staff. Once the shortlist has been decided, a guest judge then joins the panel to select a winner. The Prize is awarded to the work of highest literary merit.^[4]

Readings owner Mark Rubbo said about the awards: 'It can be difficult for debut and second-time authors to attract attention, especially when the heavy-hitters dominate the media. We established the prizes to attract readers who might not necessarily pick up these books otherwise.'^[5]

Created ‘to financially reward and promote debut and second-time authors of children’s, young adult, and new Australian fiction’, the Readings Prizes were created ‘to support new and outstanding Australian voices’.^[6]

Winners of the New Australian Fiction Prize include: Jessica Au,^[7] Alice Robinson,^[8] Andrew Pippos, Jennifer Down, Elizabeth Tan, Stephanie Bishop,^[9] Sam Carmody,^[10] Zoe Morrison, and Ceridwen Dovey.

In 2023, Readings awarded an additional young adult book prize: the Gab Williams Prize will ‘honour previous prize manager and young adult author Gab Williams, who passed away suddenly in January 2023’, said Readings. The winner of the new prize is chosen by the Readings Teen Advisory Board, who are readers aged between 14 and 19 years, from the Readings YA Book Prize shortlist.^[11] The inaugural winner of the Gab Williams Prize was Completely Normal (and Other Lies) by Biffy James (HGCP) in 2023.^[12]

Past shortlists and winners

References