Western Australian Premier's Book Awards

The Western Australian Premier's Book Awards is an award for books and scripts written by Western Australians or about Western Australia. Awards are provided by the Government of Western Australia, and the awards process is managed by the State Library of Western Australia. Awards are given in the following categories:

• Fiction
• Poetry
• Non-fiction (2 awards, only one presented in 2007)
• Western Australian History
• Children's book
• Writing for Young Adults
• Script

An overall winner is awarded the Premier's Prize.

The title of the award refers to the year of publication, rather than the year in which the awards were announced. So, the 2007 awards were announced in 2008, for works published in 2007.

2007 winners

• Fiction: Stephen Scourfield Other Country (Allen & Unwin)
• Poetry: Hal Colebatch The Light River (Connorcourt Publishing)
• Non-fiction: Antonio Buti Sir Ronald Wilson: A Matter of Conscience (University of Western Australia Press)
• Western Australian History: Ruth Marchant James Cottesloe: A Town of Distinction (Town of Cottesloe)
• Children's book & Overall: Liz Lofthouse and Robert Ingpen Ziba Came on a Boat (Viking Books)
• Writing for Young Adults: Ken Spillman Love is a UFO (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Script: Elissa Down and Jimmy the Exploder The Black Balloon (Black Balloon Film Productions)

2006 winners

• Fiction: Simone Lazaroo The Travel Writer (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Poetry: Dennis Haskell All the Time in the World (Salt Publishing)
• Non-fiction:
  • Quentin Beresford Rob Riley: an Aboriginal Leader's Quest for Justice (Aboriginal Studies Press)
  • Peter Edwards Arthur Tange: Last of the Mandarins (Allen & Unwin)
• Western Australian History: Bobbie Oliver and Patrick Bertola The Workshops: A History of the Midland Government Railway Workshops (University of Western Australia Press)
• Children's book & Overall: Shaun Tan The Arrival (Hachette Livre Australia)
• Writing for Young Adults: Kate McCaffrey Destroying Avalon (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)
• Script: Hellie Turner Sardines (Tropic Sun Theatre Queensland)

2005 winners

• Fiction: Carrie Tiffany Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living (Picador)
• Poetry: Rod Moran The Paradoxes of Water: Selected and New Poems, 1970-2005 (Salt Publishing)
• Non-fiction:
  • Richard Bosworth Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Dictatorship 1915-1945 (Allen Lane/Penguin)
  • Philippa Nikulinsky and Stephen D Hopper Soul of the Desert (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)
• Western Australian History & Overall: Sue Davenport, Peter Johnson (historian) and Yuwali Cleared Out: First Contact in the Western Desert (Aboriginal Studies Press)
• Children's book: Wendy Binks Where's Stripey? (Stunned Emu Press)
• Writing for Young Adults: Kirsty Murray A Prayer for Blue Delaney (Allen & Unwin)
• Script: Reg Cribb Last Train to Freo (Sue Taylor Media)

2004 winners

• Fiction & Overall: Gail Jones Sixty Lights (Random House Australia)
• Poetry: Miriam Wei Wei Lo Against Certain Capture (Five Islands Press)
• Non-fiction:
  • Greg Craven Conversations with the Constitution (University of New South Wales)
  • Kate Lance Redbill: From Pearls to Peace - The Life and Times of a Remarkable Lugger (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Western Australian History: Anthony Barker Behind the Play (West Australian Football Commission)
• Children's book: Joanne Crawford and Grace Fielding A Home for Bilby (Magabala Books)
• Writing for Young Adults: Anthony Eaton Fireshadow (University of Queensland)
• Script: Jolly Read Yandy (Black Swan Theatre Company)

2003 winners

• Fiction: Brett D'Arcy The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks (Vintage)
• Poetry: John Kinsella Peripheral Light (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Non-fiction:
  • John Dowson Old Fremantle (University of Western Australia)
  • Stephen Kinnane Shadow Lines (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Children's book: Mark Greenwood The Legend of Lasseter's Reef (Cygnet/University of Western Australia)
• Writing for Young Adults: Colin Bowles Nights in the Sun (Penguin)
• Script & Overall: Reg Cribb Last Cab to Darwin (Pork Chop Productions/Black Swan Theatre Company)

2002 winners

• Fiction: Gail Jones Black Mirror (Picador)
• Poetry: Barbara Temperton Going Feral (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Non-fiction:
  • & Overall: Richard Bosworth Mussolini (Edward Arnold)
  • Walmajarri storytellers, ed. Joyce Hudson, Pat Lowe & Eirlys Richards Out of the Desert: Stories from the Walmajarri Exodus (Magabala Books)
• Children's book: Mark Greenwood & Frané Lessac The Legend of Moondyne Joe (Cygnet/University of Western Australia)
• Writing for Young Adults: Pat Lowe Feeling the Heat (Penguin)
• Script: Hellie Turner Bench

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2001 winners

• Fiction & Overall: Tim Winton Dirt Music (Picador)
• Poetry: Dorothy Hewett Halfway up the Mountain (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Non-fiction:
  • John Bailey (writer) The White Divers of Broome (Macmillan)
  • Jan Gothard Blue China: Single Female Migration to Colonial Australia (Melbourne University)
• Children's book: Deborah Lisson The Yankee Whaler (Scholastic)
• Writing for Young Adults: Julia Lawrinson Obsession (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Script: Sally Riley & Archie Weller Confessions of a Headhunter

2000 winners

• Fiction: Simone Lazaroo The Australian Fiancé (Pan Macmillan)
• Poetry: Mark Reid Parochial (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Non-fiction:
  • & Overall: Michèle Drouart Into the Wadi (Fremantle Arts Centre)
  • Robert Drewe The Shark Net: Memories and Murder (Viking)
• Children's book: Kirsty Murray Zarconi's Magic Flying Fish (Allen & Unwin)
• Writing for Young Adults: Anthony Eaton The Darkness (University of Queensland)

1999 winners

• Fiction & Overall: Kim Scott Benang: From the Heart (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Poetry: Tracy Ryan The Willing Eye (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Historical & Critical Studies: Estelle Blackburn Broken Lives (Stellar Publishing)
• Children's book: Reg Bolton Showtime: Over 75 Ways to Put on a Show (Dorling Kindersley)
• Writing for Young Adults: Glyn Parry Scooterboy (Hodder Headline)
• Special Award: Victor France, Larry Mitchell & Alison Wright Abrolhos Islands Conversations (Fremantle Arts Centre)

1998 winners

• Overall: Carolyn Polizzotto Pomegranate Season (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Fiction: Pat Jacobs Going Inland (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Poetry: (joint winners)

John Kinsella The Hunt (Fremantle Arts Centre)

Fay Zwicky The Gatekeeper's Wife (Brandl & Schlesinger)

• Historical & Critical Studies: Quentin Beresford & Paul Omaji Our State of Mind: Racial Planning and the Stolen Generations (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Children's book: Pat Lowe & Jimmy Pike Desert Dog (Magabala Books)
• Writing for Young Adults: Deborah Lisson Red Hugh (Lothian)
• Script Award: Ingle Knight Milk and Honey (Perth Theatre Company)

1997 winners

• Overall: (joint winners)

Robert Drewe The Drowner (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Gail Jones Fetish Lives (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)

• Fiction: (joint winners)

Robert Drewe The Drowner (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Gail Jones Fetish Lives (Fremantle Arts Centre Press)

• Poetry: Alec Choate The Wheels of Hama: Collected War Poems (Victor Publishing)
• Historical & Critical Studies: Phillip Playford Carpet of Silver: the Wreck of the Zuytdorp (University of WA Press)
• Children & Young Adult's Books: Deborah Lisson A Place of Safety (Mammoth (Reed Books))
• Special Award: Songs of Strength: Sixteen Women Talk About Cancer (Women's Cancer Group (Macmillan))
• Script Award: Dickon Oxenburgh and Andrew Ross Merry-Go-Round-In -the Sea (Black Swan Theatre)

1996 winners

• Overall: Banjo Woorunmurra & Howard Pedersen Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance (Magabala Books)
• Fiction: (joint winners)

Heather Grace The Lighthouse Spark (Fremantle Arts Centre)

Dave Warner City of Light (Fremantle Arts Centre)

• Poetry: Dorothy Hewett Collected Poems (Fremantle Arts Centre)
• Historical & Critical Studies: Banjo Woorunmurra and Howard Pedersen Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance (Magabala Books)
• Children & Young Adult's Books: Helen Bell Idjhil (University of Western Australia Press)
• Special Award: Mike Leonard The Kimberley - A journey through Northwest Australia (CIS Cardigan Street Publishers)
• Script Award: Sarah Rossetti Culture Clash (Rosenbaum Whitbread)

External links

• Western Australian Premier's Book Awards