Literary awards celebrate Tasmania’s best

Tasmania’s top literary talent will be celebrated on Wednesday night during a ceremony at the Hedberg for the 2025 Tasmanian Literary Awards.

Spanning seven different awards and $125,000 in prize money, the awards celebrate excellence in the Tasmanian literary sector, while raising the profile of local authors and fostering future talent.

Minister for the Arts and Heritage, Madeleine Ogilvie, said that the awards

both bring people together and celebrate the transformative power of literature.

“The Tasmanian Literary Awards send a strong message that words matter,” Minister Ogilvie said.

“The awards demonstrate that words have power and meaning, and that literature deserves to be celebrated, not as a luxury, but as an essential element of a diverse and vibrant society.

“We’re committed to nurturing and celebrating our island’s literary talent as part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future.”

Among the award winners was Johanna Bell who won in two categories, including the Minister for the Arts Prize for Books for Young Readers and Children for her picture book, Digger Digs Down, as well as the University of Tasmania Prize for best unpublished work for her adult fiction manuscript, Department of the Vanishing.

Held during Tasmania Reads week, the Tasmanian Literary Awards are administered by Arts Tasmania with support from the University of Tasmania, Island Magazine and Libraries Tasmania.

For more information on the winners, shortlists, longlists and judges’ comments, visit https://www.arts.tas.gov.au/tasliteraryawards/home

2025 Tasmanian Literary Award winners

• Aboriginal Writer’s Fellowship, Nunami Sculthorpe-Green
• Margaret Scott Tasmanian Young Writer’s Fellowship, Lars Rogers
• Minister for the Arts’ Prize for Books for Young Readers and Children, Digger Digs Down by Johanna Bell, illustrated by Huni Melissa Bolliger (University of Queensland Press, 2024)
• Premier’s Prize for Fiction, Heartsease by Kate Kruimink (Pan Macmillan Australia, 2024)
• Premier’s Prize for Non-fiction, Graft by Maggie MacKellar (Penguin Random House, 2023)
• Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry, say, a river by Pam Schindler (Ginninderra Press, 2023)
• University of Tasmania Prize (supported by the University of Tasmania), Department of the Vanishing by Johanna Bell

People’s Choice Award winners

• Minister for the Arts’ Prize for Books for Young Readers and Children – People’s Choice Award, Amazing Animal Journeys by Jennifer Cossins (Lothian Children’s Books, 2022)
• Premier’s Prize for Fiction – People’s Choice Award, The Angry Women's Choir by Meg Bignell (Penguin Random House, 2022)
• Premier’s Prize for Non-fiction – People’s Choice Award, Graft by Maggie MacKellar (Penguin Random House, 2023)
• Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry – People’s Choice Award, Ways to Say Goodbye by Anne Kellas (Liquid Amber Press, 2023)