All the books on the 2021 ABIA longlist

Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of brilliant Australian book design and story-telling. The Australian Book Industry Association has announced the longlists for its 2021 prizes. Brace yourself – it’s wall-to-wall book brilliance.

From literary fiction and can’t-put-it-down biographies to gripping reads for young adults, beautiful picture books, build-your-brain non-fiction and even cookbooks that’ll leave your mouth watering (and likely your stomach rumbling too), this really is a longlist with something for everyone.

The ABIA awards celebrate the best of Australian authors, illustrators, book designers, publishers, editors and book marketers, as well as giving a nod to the best of international books published locally. Keep on reading to see the longlists for each of the 12 categories,

Book of the Year for older children

Aurora Burning: The Aurora Cycle 2 by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, Allen & Unwin.
Future Girl, Asphyxia, Allen & Unwin.
Jane Doe and the Key of All Souls by Jeremy Lachlan, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing.
Please Don’t Hug Me by Kay Kerr, Text Publishing.
The End of the World is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell, Text Publishing.
The F Team by Rawah Arja, Giramondo Publishing.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix, Allen & Unwin.
This One is Ours by Kate O’Donnell, University of Queensland Press.

Book of the Year for younger children

Finding Our Heart by Thomas Mayor; Illustrated by Blak Douglas, Hardie Grant Publishing.
Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend, Lothian Children’s Books.
The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor, Affirm Press.
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals by Sami Bayly, Lothian Children’s Books.
The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks, Lothian Children’s Books.
Took The Children Away by Archie Roach; Illustrated by Ruby Hunter, Simon & Schuster Australia.
We Are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books.
When Rain Turns to Snow by Jane Godwin, Lothian Children’s Books.

Picture Book of the Year

Aunty’s Wedding by Miranda Tapsell, Joshua Tyler and Samantha Fry, Allen & Unwin.
Bluey: The Creek by Bluey, Puffin.
Our Home, Our Heartbeat by Adam Briggs, Kate Moon and Rachael Sarra, Little Hare.
Respect by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson; Illustrated by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala Books.
Sing Me the Summer by Jane Godwin and Alison Lester, Affirm Press.
The Fire Wombat by Jackie French and Danny Snell, HarperCollins Publishers.
When We Say Black Lives Matter by Maxine Beneba Clarke, Lothian Children’s Books.
Windows by Jonathan Bentley and Patrick Guest, Little Hare.

Biography of the Year

A Bigger Picture by Malcolm Turnbull, Hardie Grant Publishing.
A Repurposed Life by Ronni Kahn with Jessica Chapnik Kahn, Allen & Unwin, Murdoch Books.
Boy on Fire: The Young Nick Cave by Mark Mordue, HarperCollins Publishers, Fourth Estate.
Fourteen by Shannon Molloy, Simon & Schuster Australia.
Paul Kelly by Stuart Coupe, Hachette Australia.
Soar: A Life Freed by Dance by David McAllister with Amanda Dunn, Thames & Hudson Australia.
The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku, Macmillan Australia.
Truganini by Cassandra Pybus, Allen & Unwin.

Literary fiction Book of the Year

A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, Jessie Tu (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
A Room Made of Leaves, Kate Grenville (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton (HarperCollins Publishers, Fourth Estate)
Honeybee, Craig Silvey (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
Infinite Splendours, Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin, Allen & Unwin)
Song of the Crocodile, Nardi Simpson (Hachette Australia Pty Ltd, Hachette Australia)
Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason (HarperCollins Publishers, Fourth Estate)
The Last Migration, Charlotte McConaghy (Penguin Random House, Hamish Hamilton)

General fiction Book of the Year

The Bluffs by Kyle Perry, Penguin Random House.
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, Affirm Press.
The Godmothers by Monica McInerney, Penguin Random House.
The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins Publishers.
The Morbids by Ewa Ramsey, Allen & Unwin.
The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall, Simon & Schuster Australia.
The Survivors by Jane Harper, Pan Macmillan Australia.
Trust by Chris Hammer, Allen & Unwin.

Non-fiction Book of the Year

Fire Country, Victor Steffensen (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Travel)
My Tidda, My Sister, Marlee Silva; Illustrated by Rachael Sarra (Hardie Grant Publishing, Hardie Grant Travel)
One Day I’ll Remember This: Diaries 1987–1995, Helen Garner (Text Publishing, Text Publishing)
Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark, Julia Baird (HarperCollins Publishers, Fourth Estate)
The Golden Maze: A biography of Prague, Richard Fidler (HarperCollins Publishers, ABC Books)
The Space Between, Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald (Penguin Random House, Viking)
Un-cook Yourself: A Ratbag’s Rules for Life, Nat’s What I Reckon (Penguin Random House, Ebury Australia)
Women and Leadership, Julia Gillard and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Penguin Random House, Vintage Australia)

Small Publisher’s Adult Book of the Year

Glimpses of Utopia: Real ideas for a fairer world by Jess Scully, Pantera Press.
Living on Stolen Land by Ambelin Kwaymullina, Magabala Books.
Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe, University of Queensland Press.
The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay, Scribe Publications.
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott, Text Publishing.
What Is To Be Done: political engagement and saving the planet by Barry Jones, Scribe Publications.
Where the Fruit Falls by Karen Wyld, UWA Publishing.
Yornadaiyn Woolagoodja by Yornadaiyn Woolagoodja, Magabala Books.

Small publisher’s Children’s Book of the Year

Anemone is not the Enemy by Anna McGregor, Scribe Publications.
Bindi by Kirli Saunders; Illustrated by Dub Leffler, Magabala Books.
Claudette by Helene Magisson, Red Paper Kite.
Family by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson; Illustrated by Jasmine Seymour, Magabala Books.
Found by Bruce Pascoe and Charmaine Ledden-Lewis, Magabala Books.
Howl by Kat Patrick; Illustrated by Evie Barrow, Scribe Publications.
Metal Fish, Falling Snow by Cath Moore, Text Publishing.
My Shadow is Pink by Scott Stuart, Larrikin House.

New Writer of the Year

A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing by Jessie Tu, Allen & Unwin.
Lucky’s by Andrew Pippos, Picador Australia.
My Tidda, My Sister by Marlee Silva; Illustrated by Rachael Sarra, Hardie Grant Publishing.
Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson, Hachette Australia.
The Coconut Children by Vivian Pham, Penguin Random House.
The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor, Affirm Press.
The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku, Macmillan Australia.
The Morbids by Ewa Ramsey, Allen & Unwin.

Illustrated Book of the Year

A Year of Simple Family Food by Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Pan Macmillan, Plum.
Beatrix Bakes, by Natalie Paull, Hardie Grant Books.
In Praise of Veg by Alice Zaslavsky, Murdoch Books.
Loving Country by Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou, by Hardie Grant Publishing.
Places We Swim Sydney by Caroline Clements and Dillon Seitchik-Reardon, Hardie Grant Travel.
Plantopedia by Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan, Smith Street Books.
Sam Bloom: Heartache & Birdsong by Samantha Bloom, Cameron Bloom & Bradley Trevor Greive, ABC Books.
To Asia, With Love by Hetty McKinnon, Pan Macmillan Australia, Plum.

International Book of the Year

A Life On Our Planet by David Attenborough, Ebury Press.
A Promised Land by Barack Obama, Viking.
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey, Hachette Australia.
Ottolenghi FLAVOUR by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage, Ebury Press.
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, Picador.
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, Bloomsbury Circus.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, Dialogue Books.
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Give, Cassell.

The shortlist will be revealed on 12 April 2021. The winner in each of the 12 categories will be announced on 28 April, 2021, so check back in then.

And if you’d like to browse more award-winning books while you wait, come and take a flick through TCWR archives.