Huge congratulations to Sandy Bigna and Clare Wright, whose books have been Shortlisted in the 2026 NSW Literary Awards! These are the richest and longest running state-based literary awards in Australia and cover all genres of writing.

Sandy has been recognised in the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature – awarded at $30,000 it is offered for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for children up to secondary school level. Sandy’s middle-grade verse novel Little Bones (UQP) has been Shortlisted, with judges saying;

“Little Bones is a hauntingly beautiful verse novel that stays with the reader long after reading. It masterfully addresses heavy themes with a lightness of touch that is appropriate for a younger audience. The plot is highly original, and it has a dreamlike quality to it. The story slowly burns to an emotional climax that reveals everything the reader needs to know to complete the character arcs of both Bones and Bird, making it both satisfying and stirring.”

Clare Wright’s Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy (Text Publishing) has been Shortlisted for the The Douglas Stewart Prize – with an award of $40,000 for a prose work other than a work of fiction. Judges said of Wright’s book;

“The deep resilience of First Nations culture is deftly interwoven with settler habits of thought, so that the whole book is a conversation between the two. The writing has the feel of yarning rather than argument in any narrow sense, with a consistent focus on relationships — people to people and people to place. In purpose, form and literary method, Näku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions: How the people of Yirrkala changed the course of Australian democracy is a highly original piece of work.”

Congratulations, both!

In addition to the category prizes, the judges may choose from among the winners of each award category a Book of the Year, and the government may, at its discretion, make an additional payment of $10,000 prize money to the writer of the Book of the Year.

The winners will be announced on 18 May.