''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

's ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the

Melbourne Writers Festival Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) is an annual literary festival held in the Australian city of Melbourne, a UNESCO City of Literature. The Festival runs during early September each year. Melbourne Writers Festival is part of the Word Alliance, a ...

. Initially, two awards were given, one for fiction (or imaginative writing), the other for non-fiction work, but in 1993, a poetry award in honour of Dinny O'Hearn was added.''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' edited by Wilde et al. (1994) p. 23 The criteria were that the works be "of outstanding literary merit and express Australian identity or character," and be published in the year before the award was made. One of the award-winners was chosen as ''The Age'' Book of the Year. The awards were discontinued in 2013. In 2021 ''The Age'' Book of the Year was revived as a fiction prize, with the winner announced at the Melbourne Writers Festival. A non-fiction prize was added the following year.

''The Age'' Book of the Year (from 2021)

Fiction

Non-Fiction

''The Age'' Book of the Year (from 1974–2012)

Fiction (or Imaginative Writing) Award

Non-fiction Award

Dinny O'Hearn Poetry Prize

First Book

*2005: ''The Unknown Zone'' by Phil Smith

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Age Book of the Year Australian fiction awards Australian poetry awards Awards established in 1974 1974 establishments in Australia Awards disestablished in 2013 2013 disestablishments in Australia