WA Premier's Book Awards

We are excited to announce the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards has a new category - The Premier's Prize for Book of the Year Award, sponsored by Writing WA.

The new category celebrates books published or self-published in the calendar year of 2022. Open to Western Australian resident writers of any style or genre, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, history or young adult. The new category broadens the scope of the Awards allowing more Western Australian writers to be honoured and celebrated.

Writing WA, the peak body for writers in Western Australia, will initially fund the new award for the next three years, with the State Library of Western Australia (SLWA) covering judging and other administrative costs.

The 2023 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards are now titled after the year the awards are presented instead of the year the books were published.

The Writing for Children Award receives a minor facelift, in name only, altered to Children's Book of the Year to align with the new category and reflect the inclusion of illustrators. 

The awards support, develop and recognise excellence in Western Australian writing. The State Library of Western Australia manages the Premier's Book Awards on behalf of the Government. Entries for all categories open on 8 December 2022 and close on 19 January 2023.

Information on how to enter, guidelines and FAQ's will be revealed on 8 December 2022.

The Shortlists will be announced via the State Library's social media @statelibrarywa in May 2023. Winners will be announced at the State Library in June 2023.

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Categories

• The Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer ($15,000)
• The Premier's Prize for Children's Book of the Year ($15,000)
• The Daisy Utemorrah Award for Unpublished Indigenous Junior and Young Adult Fiction ($15,000 and a publishing contract with Magabala Books) 
• The Premier's Prize for Book of the Year, sponsored by Writing WA ($15,000)
• The Western Australian Writer's Fellowship ($60,000)

The Daisy Utemorrah Award is administered and funded by Broome-based Indigenous publisher Magabala Books with support from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. 

The logo is from an original illustration, "Constellation" by © Moira Court, from the enchanting children's book My Superhero written by Chris Owen (Fremantle Press), shortlisted in 2014 for Best Children's Book. Original illustrations from the book can be viewed on the State Library Catalogue (PWC/218).