The longlist for the 2025 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, worth $40,000, has been announced – and Clare Wright’s Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy is on the longlist!

The Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, known as ‘the Nib’, is presented by Sydney’s Waverley Council. The award ‘celebrates the most compelling research-based literature published annually’, under the criteria of literary merit, quality research, readability, and value to the community.

This year’s judging panel included writer, editor and arts producer Lliane Clarke, publisher and editor Julia Carlomagno, and author and publishing professional Angela Meyer, who assessed the 174 submissions for the award. Said Clarke, ‘For me, the works that stand out take the reader on an unexpected learning and revelatory journey – where we learn something new about the world and our own soul.’

Clare Wright’s Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions is the story of a founding document in Australian democracy and the trailblazers who made it. It is also a pulsating picture of the ancient and enduring culture of Australia’s first peoples.

A shortlist will be announced on 9 September, with each of the six finalists to receive the $1500 Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize. Winners of the Nib People’s Choice Prize ($4000) and the overall Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award ($40,000) will then be announced on 6 November. Congratulations to all!