Announcing the 2020 ABIAs Shortlist!

The 2020 ABIAs shortlist has been revealed!

The ABIAs (Australian Book Industry Awards) celebrate the very best of Australian publishing and bookselling, with awards given out over multiple categories.

Along with the shortlist, it was announced that Helen Garner will receive the Lloyd O’Neil Award for her outstanding contribution to the industry and Erica Wagner will receive the Pixie O’Harris Award for her contribution to children’s literature. Hazel Lam from HarperCollins Australia will also be recognised as the recipient of the 2020 Rising Star Award.

The rest of the winners will be announced via a live YouTube broadcast hosted by Casey Benetto and featuring Clare Bowditch, Judy Nunn, Leigh Sales, Anita Heiss, Julia Gillard, Kate Ritchie, Richard Harris and more. The broadcast is scheduled for 4pm on the 13th of May – scroll down to see the shortlist!

Audio Book of the Year

Fake: A Startling True Story of Love in a World of Liars, Cheats, Narcissists, Fantasists and Phonies by Stephanie Wood, narrated by Claudia Karvan

No Friend But the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani, narrated by Omid Tofighian, Isobelle Carmody, Janet Galbraith, Mathilda Imlah, Geoffrey Robertson, Richard Flanagan, Sarah Dale, Thomas Keneally and Yumi Stynes

The Resilience Project: Finding Happiness Through Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness by Hugh Van Cuylenburg, narrated by Hugh Van Cuylenburg

The Yield by Tara June Winch, narrated by Tony Briggs

Your Own Kind of Girl by Clare Bowditch, narrated by Clare Bowditch

Biography Book of the Year

Born-Again Blakfella by Jack Charles

Tell Me Why by Archie Roach

The Prettiest Horse In The Glue Factory by Corey White

When All is Said & Done by Neale Daniher, with Warwick Green

Your Own Kind of Girl by Clare Bowditch

Book Retailer of the Year

Booktopia 🎉

Dymocks

Harry Hartog Bookseller

QBD Books

Readings

Bookshop of the Year

Books Kinokuniya (Sydney)

Fullers Bookshop (Hobart)

Mary Martin Bookshop (Port Melbourne)

Readings Carlton (Melbourne)

Riverbend Books (Brisbane)

Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)

Detention by Tristan Bancks

It Sounded Better in My Head by Nina Kenwood

The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim

Welcome to Country (Youth Edition) by Marcia Langton

Welcome To Your Period by Yumi Stynes and Dr Melissa Kang

Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-12)

Funny Bones, edited by Kate Temple, Jol Temple and Oliver Phommavanh

Real Pigeons Nest Hard by Andrew McDonald and Ben Wood (illustrator)

The 117-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals by Sami Bayly

Young Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe

Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)

All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors by Davina Bell and Jenny Løvlie

Bluey: The Beach by Ludo Studio, BBC Studios and Penguin Random House Australia

Mr Chicken All Over Australia by Leigh Hobbs

The Tiny Star by Mem Fox and Freya Blackwood (Illustrator)

Wilam by Andrew Kelly, Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy (Illustrator)

General Fiction Book of the Year

Bruny by Heather Rose

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham

Silver by Chris Hammer

The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan

General Non-fiction Book of the Year

Against All Odds by Craig Challen and Richard Harris

Banking Bad by Adele Ferguson

Fake by Stephanie Wood

488 Rules for Life by Kitty Flanagan

See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Abuse by Jess Hill

Illustrated Book of the Year

Australia Modern: Architecture, Landscape & Design 1925–1975 by Hannah Lewi and Philip Goad

Ben Quilty by Ben Quilty

The Lost Boys: The untold stories of the under-age soldiers who fought in the First World War by Paul Byrnes

The Whole Fish Cookbook by Josh Niland

Three Birds Renovations by Erin Cayless, Bonnie Hindmarsh and Lana Taylor

International Book of the Year

Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Literary Fiction Book of the Year

Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas

The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

The Yield by Tara June Winch

There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett

Wolfe Island by Lucy Treloar

Publisher of the Year

Allen & Unwin

Hachette Australia

Penguin Random House Australia

Small Publisher of the Year

Magabala Books

NewSouth Publishing

University of Queensland Press

Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year

Feeding the Birds at Your Table: A guide for Australia by Darryl Jones

Kindred by Kirli Saunders

Paris Savages by Katherine Johnson

Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta

The White Girl by Tony Birch

Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year

Little Bird’s Day, written by Sally Morgan, illustrated by Johnny Warrkatja

Love Your Body, written by Jessica Sanders, illustrated by Carol Rossetti

Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street by Felicita Sala

Sick Bay by Nova Weetman

You Can Change the World: The Kids’ Guide to a Better Planet by Lucy Bell

The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year

Being Black ‘n Chicken, and Chips by Matt Okine

Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare

It Sounded Better in My Head by Nina Kenwood

Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta

Your Own Kind of Girl by Clare Bowditch

Congratulations to all of the authors, publishers and bookstores on the 2020 ABIAs shortlist!

Find out more about the 2020 ABIAs shortlist here.

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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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