The winners of the 2024 BookPeople Book of the Year Awards were announced this week, celebrating exceptional books by Australian authors.
BookPeople, the Association of Australian Booksellers, award these prizes annually to recognise outstanding achievements in our literary community. Melissa Lucashenko won Fiction Book of the Year for Edenglassie, Anna Funder won Non-Fiction Book of the Year for Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life, and Children's Book of the Year went to Sophie Blackall for If I Was a Horse.
Fiction Book of the Year:
Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko
When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Edenglassie, their saltwater people still outnumber the British. As colonial unrest peaks, Mulanyin dreams of taking his bride home to Yugambeh Country, but his plans for independence collide with white justice.
Two centuries later, fiery activist Winona meets Dr Johnny. Together they care for obstinate centenarian Grannie Eddie, and sparks fly, but not always in the right direction. What nobody knows is how far the legacies of the past will reach into their modern lives.
Non-Fiction Book of the Year:
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Looking for wonder and some reprieve from the everyday, Anna Funder slips into the pages of her hero George Orwell. When she uncovers his forgotten wife, it's a revelation. Eileen O'Shaughnessy's literary brilliance shaped Orwell's work and her practical nous saved his life. But why – and how – was she written out of the story?
Using newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend, Funder recreates the Orwells' marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WWII in London. As she rolls up the screen concealing Orwell's private life she is led to question what it takes to be a writer – and what it is to be a wife.
Children's Book of the Year:
If I Was a Horse by Sophie Blackall
If you were a horse, what would you do? Could you fit in your clothes? Would you give your little sister a ride? Would your brother even notice?
Gallop along with two-time Caldecott Medallist Sophie Blackall, through this riotous day in the life of a child who imagines their life as a horse. Sophie's delightful text and resonant illustrations offer a visual feast, a grand dose of joy and a celebration of the real power of imagination to help us navigate the world.
