National biography award australian

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This year, we acknowledge the generous support of the Graham & Charlene Bradley Foundation, Sarah Crouch and the John Lamble Foundation.

• Bullet, Paper, Rock: A memoir of words and wars by Abbas El-Zein
• Detachable Penis: A queer legal saga by Sam Elkin
• Bennelong & Phillip: A history unravelled by Kate Fullagar
• Frank Moorhouse: Strange paths by Matthew Lamb, see my review
• John Berger and Me by Nikos Papastergiadis
• Madame Brussels: The life and times of Melbourne’s most notorious woman by Barbara Minchinton, with Philip Bentley

Winners will be announced in late July.

Image source: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/national-biography-award

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AustLit

'Leaping into Waterfalls explores the rich, tumultuous life of Gillian Mears, one of Australia's most significant writers of the last forty years.

'Gillian Mears appeared to many to be a shy woman from Grafton, but her lived and imaginative lives were rich with adventure, risk and often transgressive passion.

It is associated with the award, and is also sponsored by Cains and Crouch. This meticulous and moving biography reads Mears' life and work within that broader cultural community to celebrate her truly extraordinary achievements and adventures.' (Publication summary)

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The judging panel varies from year to year.

  • 2016: Brenda Niall for Mannix
  • 2015: Philip Butterss for An Unsentimental Bloke: The Life and Work of C J Dennis
  • 2014: Alison Alexander for The Ambitions of Jane Franklin: Victorian Lady Adventurer
  • 2013: Peter Fitzpatrick for The Two Frank Thrings
  • 2012: Martin Thomas for The Many Worlds of R.

    H. Mathews: In Search of an Australian Anthropologist

  • 2011: Alasdair McGregor for Grand Obsessions: The Life and Work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin
  • 2010: Brian Matthews for Manning Clark: A Life
  • 2009: Ann Blainey for I am Melba
  • 2008: Joint winners
  • Philip Dwyer for Napoleon, 1769-1799: The Path to Power
  • Graham Seal for These Few Lines: A Convict Story - The Lost Lives of Myra and William Sykes
  • 2007: Jacob Rosenberg for East of Time
  • 2006: John Hughes for The Idea of Home
  • 2005: Robert Hillman for The Boy in the Green Suit
  • 2004: Barry Hill for Broken Song: T.G.H.

    To identify yourself, enter the email address you gave when signing up in store.

    • She was a prolific correspondent with significant figures of the cultural landscape-Gerald Murnane, David Malouf, Tim Winton, Elizabeth Jolley, Helen Garner, Drusilla Modjeska, Kate Grenville and Marr Grounds. Undaunted, she continued to write and publish until her death five years later in 2016.

    'Mears amassed an extensive collection of diaries, letters, manuscripts, photographs, recordings and ephemera, and deposited it with the Mitchell Library.

    If you do not receive an email within 30 minutes, you do not have an account.

    Get started with your online account. In 2002, Cains said of endowing the award that "I wanted to give back to literature something, it had given me so much; besides, philanthropy in this country is so overlooked and diminished".

    Belinda Hutchinson, former President of the Library Council of NSW, expressed gratitude for this increase to "an award that celebrates the Australian psyche through distinguished biography writing." In 2012 the prize money for the Award has been increased to $25,000. If you do not receive an email within 30 minutes, you either do not have an account or your account is already confirmed.

    Please note: requests using email addresses that aren't tied to an account will be ignored to keep customer details secure.

    Strehlow and Aboriginal Possession

  • 2003: Joint winners
  • Peter Rose for Rose Boys
  • Don Watson for Recollections of a Bleeding Heart : a Portrait of Paul Keating PM
  • 2002: Jacqueline Kent for A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, a Literary Life
  • 2000: Joint winners
  • Peter Robb for M, a biography of European painter Caravaggio
  • Mandy Sayer for Dreamtime Alice: a Memoir
  • 1998: Roberta Sykes for Snake Cradle
  • 1996: Abraham Biderman for The World of My Past

    • In 2003, the National Biography Award lecture was instituted.

    By her midforties, multiple sclerosis had confined her to a wheelchair. In 2005, the prize money was increased to $20,000 with the support of Michael Crouch. As an adult, she was plagued by ill health yet remained steadfast in her quest to be independent and free; while recovering from open-heart surgery, she traversed the country alone in a de-commissioned ambulance.

    In her award-winning and acclaimed novels and short stories, Mears wrote fearlessly of the dark undercurrents of country and family life, always probing the depths and complexity of human desire.

    'Mears' sensuality and sexuality were the driving forces of her life and writing.

    National Biography Award

    It was originally endowed by private benefactor, Dr.

    Geoffrey Cains, and the original prize money was $12,500.

    national biography award australian

    It is given annually, but is not given at the same time as the announcement of the winner.

  • 2013: A different perspective, a shared story, by John Elder Robison
  • 2012: Looking for Eliza by Evelyn Juers
  • 2011: Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM, by Don Watson
  • 2010: Biography: The Art of the Impossible, by Hilary McPhee AO
  • 2009: ‘Truth’ as applied to biography and autobiography, by Raimon Gaita
  • 2008: Biography, Autobiography and Memoir: Presidential Bests and Worsts, by Bob Carr
  • 2007: Biography: The Impossible Art, by Inga Clendinnen
  • 2006: Materials for Life: The Enduring Value of Biography, by Robyn Archer
  • 2005: Personal Drama: David Williamson on Self-depiction, by David Williamson
  • 2004: The Observed of all Observers: Biography in Poetry, by Peter Porter (poet)
  • 2003: Goethe's Two Left Feet: Reflections on the Hazards and Liberties of Biography, by Peter Rose (writer)
    • National Biography Award Wikipedia

    (Text) CC BY-SA

    The State Library of NSW has announced the shortlist for the 2025 National Biography Award, which celebrates excellence in biography, autobiography and memoir writing.

    With a prize pool of $42,000, it is the nation’s richest prize for Australian biographical writing and memoir:

    $25,000 for the winner.
    $2,000 for each of the six shortlisted authors.
    $5,000 Michael Crouch Award for a first published biography, autobiography or memoir by an Australian writer.

    The Award is supported by the State Library of NSW Foundation.