Western Australian Premier's Book Awards

The Western Australian Premier's Book Awards (PBA) is an award for books, scripts, digital narrative and a People's Choice. Awards are provided by the Government of Western Australia, and the awards process is managed by the State Library of Western Australia. Awards are given in fiction, poetry, non-fiction, Western Australian History, children's book, writing for Young Adults, scripts and digital narrative. An overall winner is awarded the Premier's Prize.

The title of the award refers to the year of publication, rather than the year in which the awards were announced. So, the 2011 awards were announced in 2012, for works published in 2011.

The Award includes prize amounts as follows: $15,000 for Fiction, Non-fiction and Children's Books. $10,000 for Young Adults, WA History, Poetry and Scripts. $5,000 for People's Choice and Digital Narrative. The Premier's Prize carries prize money of $25,000.

In 2015, the state government downgraded the awards from an annual event to biannual, to the disappointment of the WA arts sector.

2012 winners

The 2012 winners were announced on 16 September 2013. The overall winner was Michelle de Kretser's Questions of Travel.

• Fiction: Michelle de Kretser, Questions of Travel
• People's Choice: Deborah Forster, The Meaning of Grace
• Poetry: Robert Gray, Cumulus
• Non-fiction: Roger Averill, Exile: The Lives and Hopes of Werner Pelz
• Western Australian History: Aboriginal Studies Press, Kurlumarniny: We come from the Desert
• Children's book:(tie) Stephen Herrick, Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend & Peter Macinnis, Australian Backyard Naturalist
• Writing for Young Adults: Margo Lanagan, Sea Hearts
• Script: Ingle Knight, The Fremantle Candidate
• Digital Narrative: David P Reiter, My Planets Reunion Memoir

2011 winners

The 2011 winners were announced on 17 September 2012. The overall winner was Fiona Skyring's Justice: A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (ISBN 978-1921401633)

• Fiction: Anna Funder, All That I Am
• People's Choice: Anna Funder, All That I Am
• Poetry: Tracy Ryan, The Argument
• Non-fiction: Alice Pung, Her Father's Daughter
• Western Australian History: Fiona Skyring, Justice: A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia
• Children's book: Michelle Gillespie & Sonia Martinez, Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck
• Writing for Young Adults: Penni Russon, Only Ever Always
• Script: Tim Winton & Ellen Fontana, Cloudstreet: The Screenplay
• Digital Narrative: Max Barry, Machine Man

2010 winners

The 2010 winners were announced on 30 September 2011. The overall winner was Kim Scott's That Deadman Dance

• Fiction: Kim Scott, That Deadman Dance
• People's Choice: Lisa Lang, Utopian Man
• Poetry: Mark Tredinnick, Fire Diary
• Non-fiction: Jim Davidson, The Historian: W K Hancock
• Western Australian History: Susanna Iuliano, Vite Italiane, Italian Lives in Western Australia
• Children's book: Sally Murphy & Rhian Nest James, Toppling
• Writing for Young Adults: Scot Gardner, Happy as Larry and James Roy, Anonymity Jones
• Script: Tommy Murphy, Gwen in Purgatory
• Digital Narrative: Robin Craig Clark, The Garden

2009 winners

The 2008 & 2009 winners were announced September 2010. The overall winner was Shirley Barrett's South Solitary.

• Fiction:
  • Craig Silvey, Jasper Jones
  • J. M. Coetzee, Summertime
• Poetry: Kate Middleton, Fire Season
• Non-fiction: Iain McCalman, Darwin's Armada
• Western Australian History: Penelope Hetherington, Paupers, Poor Relief & Poor Houses
• Children's book: Margaret Wild & Freya Blackwood, Harry & Hopper
• Writing for Young Adults: Justine Larbalestier, Liar
• Script: Shirley Barett, South Solitary

2008 winners

The 2008 & 2009 winners were announced September 2010. The overall winner was Chloe Hooper's The Tall Man.

• Fiction: Richard Flanagan, Wanting
• Poetry: Bronwyn Lea, The Other Way Out
• Non-fiction: Chloe Hooper, The Tall Man
• Western Australian History: Brian Dibble, Doing Life: A biography of Elizabeth Jolley
• Children's book: Bob Graham, How to Heal a Broken Wing
• Writing for Young Adults: Shaun Tan, Tales from Outer Suburbia
• Script: Damien Millar, The Modern International Dead

2007 winners

The winners were announced in 2008. The overall winner was Liz Lofthouse and Robert Ingpen's Ziba Came on a Boat.

• Fiction: Stephen Scourfield, Other Country (Allen & Unwin)
• Poetry: Hal Colebatch, The Light River (Connorcourt Publishing)
• Non-fiction: Antonio Buti, Sir Ronald Wilson: A Matter of Conscience (University of Western Australia Press)
• Western Australian History: Ruth Marchant James, Cottesloe: A Town of Distinction (Town of Cottesloe)
• Children's book: Liz Lofthouse and Robert Ingpen, Ziba Came on a Boat (Viking Books)
• Writing for Young Adults: Ken Spillman, Love is a UFO (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Script: Elissa Down and Jimmy the Exploder The Black Balloon (Black Balloon Film Productions)

2006 winners

The overall winner was Shaun Tan's The Arrival.

• Fiction: Simone Lazaroo The Travel Writer (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Poetry: Dennis Haskell All the Time in the World (Salt Publishing)
• Non-fiction:
  • Quentin Beresford Rob Riley: an Aboriginal Leader's Quest for Justice (Aboriginal Studies Press)
  • Peter Edwards Arthur Tange: Last of the Mandarins (Allen & Unwin)
• Western Australian History: Bobbie Oliver and Patrick Bertola The Workshops: A History of the Midland Government Railway Workshops (University of Western Australia Press)
• Children's book: Shaun Tan The Arrival (Hachette Livre Australia)
• Writing for Young Adults: Kate McCaffrey Destroying Avalon (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)
• Script: Hellie Turner Sardines (Tropic Sun Theatre Queensland)

2005 winners

The overall winner was Davenport etc.. Cleared Out: First Contact in the Western Desert

• Fiction: Carrie Tiffany Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living (Picador)
• Poetry: Rod Moran The Paradoxes of Water: Selected and New Poems, 1970-2005 (Salt Publishing)
• Non-fiction:
  • Richard Bosworth Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Dictatorship 1915-1945 (Allen Lane/Penguin)
  • Philippa Nikulinsky and Stephen D Hopper Soul of the Desert (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)
• Western Australian History: Sue Davenport, Peter Johnson and Yuwali Cleared Out: First Contact in the Western Desert (Aboriginal Studies Press)
• Children's book: Wendy Binks Where's Stripey? (Stunned Emu Press)
• Writing for Young Adults: Kirsty Murray A Prayer for Blue Delaney (Allen & Unwin)
• Script: Reg Cribb Last Train to Freo (Sue Taylor Media)

2004 winners

The overall winner was Gail Jones' Sixty Lights

• Fiction: Gail Jones Sixty Lights (Random House Australia)
• Poetry: Miriam Wei Wei Lo Against Certain Capture (Five Islands Press)
• Non-fiction:
  • Greg Craven Conversations with the Constitution (University of New South Wales)
  • Kate Lance Redbill: From Pearls to Peace - The Life and Times of a Remarkable Lugger (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Western Australian History: Anthony Barker Behind the Play (West Australian Football Commission)
• Children's book: Joanne Crawford and Grace Fielding A Home for Bilby Magabala Books
• Writing for Young Adults: Anthony Eaton Fireshadow (University of Queensland)
• Script: Jolly Read Yandy (Black Swan Theatre Company)

2003 winners

The overall winner was Reg Cribb's Last Cab to Darwin

• Fiction: Brett D'Arcy The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks (Vintage)
• Poetry: John Kinsella Peripheral Light (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Non-fiction:
  • John Dowson Old Fremantle (University of Western Australia)
  • Stephen Kinnane Shadow Lines (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Children's book: Mark Greenwood The Legend of Lasseter's Reef (Cygnet/University of Western Australia)
• Writing for Young Adults: Colin Bowles Nights in the Sun (Penguin)
• Script: Reg Cribb Last Cab to Darwin (Pork Chop Productions/Black Swan Theatre Company)

2002 winners

The overall winner was Richard Bosworth's Mussolini

• Fiction: Gail Jones Black Mirror (Picador)
• Poetry: Barbara Temperton Going Feral (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Non-fiction:
  • Richard Bosworth Mussolini (Edward Arnold)
  • Walmajarri storytellers, ed. Joyce Hudson, Pat Lowe & Eirlys Richards Out of the Desert: Stories from the Walmajarri Exodus (Magabala Books)
• Children's book: Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac The Legend of Moondyne Joe (Cygnet/University of Western Australia)
• Writing for Young Adults: Pat Lowe Feeling the Heat (Penguin)
• Script: Hellie Turner Bench

2001 winners

The overall winner was Tim Winton's Dirt Music

• Fiction: Tim Winton Dirt Music (Picador)
• Poetry: Dorothy Hewett Halfway up the Mountain (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Non-fiction:
  • John Bailey (writer) The White Divers of Broome (Macmillan)
  • Jan Gothard Blue China: Single Female Migration to Colonial Australia (Melbourne University)
• Children's book: Deborah Lisson The Yankee Whaler (Scholastic)
• Writing for Young Adults: Julia Lawrinson Obsession (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Script: Sally Riley & Archie Weller Confessions of a Headhunter

2000 winners

The overall winner was Michèle Drouart's Into the Wadi

• Fiction: Simone Lazaroo The Australian Fiancé (Pan Macmillan)
• Poetry: Mark Reid Parochial (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Non-fiction:
  • Michèle Drouart Into the Wadi (Fremantle Arts Centre)
  • Robert Drewe The Shark Net: Memories and Murder (Viking)
• Children's book: Kirsty Murray Zarconi's Magic Flying Fish (Allen & Unwin)
• Writing for Young Adults: Anthony Eaton The Darkness (University of Queensland)

1999 winners

The overall winner was Kim Scott's Benang: From the Heart

• Fiction: Kim Scott Benang: From the Heart (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Poetry: Tracy Ryan The Willing Eye (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Historical & Critical Studies: Estelle Blackburn Broken Lives (Stellar Publishing)
• Children's book: Reg Bolton Showtime: Over 75 Ways to Put on a Show (Dorling Kindersley)
• Writing for Young Adults: Glyn Parry Scooterboy (Hodder Headline)
• Special Award: Victor France, Larry Mitchell & Alison Wright Abrolhos Islands Conversations (Fremantle Arts Centre)

1998 winners

• Overall: Carolyn Polizzotto Pomegranate Season (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Fiction: Pat Jacobs Going Inland (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Poetry: (joint winners)

John Kinsella The Hunt (Fremantle Arts Centre)

Fay Zwicky The Gatekeeper's Wife (Brandl & Schlesinger)

• Historical & Critical Studies: Quentin Beresford & Paul Omaji Our State of Mind: Racial Planning and the Stolen Generations (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Children's book: Pat Lowe & Jimmy Pike Desert Dog (Magabala Books)
• Writing for Young Adults: Deborah Lisson Red Hugh (Lothian)
• Script Award: Ingle Knight Milk and Honey (Perth Theatre Company)

1997 winners

• Overall: (joint winners)

Robert Drewe The Drowner (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Gail Jones Fetish Lives (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)

• Fiction: (joint winners)

Robert Drewe The Drowner (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Gail Jones Fetish Lives (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)

• Poetry: Alec Choate The Wheels of Hama: Collected War Poems (Victor Publishing)
• Historical & Critical Studies: Phillip Playford Carpet of Silver: the Wreck of the Zuytdorp (University of WA Press)
• Children & Young Adult's Books: Deborah Lisson A Place of Safety (Mammoth (Reed Books))
• Special Award: Songs of Strength: Sixteen Women Talk About Cancer (Women's Cancer Group (Macmillan))
• Script Award: Dickon Oxenburgh and Andrew Ross Merry-Go-Round-In -the Sea (Black Swan Theatre)

1996 winners

• Overall: Banjo Woorunmurra & Howard Pedersen Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance (Magabala Books)
• Fiction: (joint winners)

Heather Grace The Lighthouse Spark (Fremantle Arts Centre)

Dave Warner City of Light (Fremantle Arts Centre)

• Poetry: Dorothy Hewett Collected Poems (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Historical & Critical Studies: Banjo Woorunmurra and Howard Pedersen Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance (Magabala Books)
• Children & Young Adult's Books: Helen Bell Idjhil (University of Western Australia Press)
• Special Award: Mike Leonard The Kimberley - A journey through Northwest Australia (CIS Cardigan Street Publishers)
• Script Award: Sarah Rossetti Culture Clash (Rosenbaum Whitbread)

External links

• Western Australian Premier's Book Awards