Alexis Wright’s multiple award-winning Praiseworthy has garnered another well-deserved accolade, last night winning the 2024 Voss Literary Prize.

Established in 2014, the Voss Literary Prize is dedicated to the memory of historian Vivian Robert Le Vaux Voss and managed by the Australian University Heads of English (AUHE), the peak body for the study of English at Australian universities.

Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright

The prize judges said: ‘Praiseworthy is a work for the ages, a capacious Aboriginal epic based in the Queensland Gulf Country … In asserting the healing possibilities of story, Wright eviscerates its opposite, that particular Canberra narrative, amplified by social media, about the abuse of alcohol and children in Aboriginal communities … Wright’s critique of white denial of Aboriginal rights is both stringent and plangent.’

‘Much has been written about Praiseworthy and the awards it has garnered for its poetic and expansive language, its exceptional mastery of craft and astonishing emotional range. Wright has gifted her readers a total life-world, a fantastical imaginary that challenges western knowledge, logic and expectations, enriches Australian literature, and gives sovereignty to Indigenous voices,’ added the judges.

Judges selected the winner from the following shortlisted titles.

• Anam by André Dao
• God Forgets About the Poor by Peter Polites
• Hospital by Sanya Rushdi
• Shirley by Ronnie Scott
• Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright

More information on the Voss Literary Prize can be found here.