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Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award

The Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award is presented annually by Waverley Council with support from Principal Sponsors Mark and Evette Moran. Established in 2002, the Nib remains Australia's only major literary award of its kind presented by a local council. Judging criteria includes high literary merit, quality of research, readability and value to the community.

2022 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award longlist announced

Waverley Council is delighted to announce the longlist for the 2022 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award.

The longlist is:

• Currowan by Bronwyn Adcock (Black Inc Books)
• Telling Tennant’s Story by Dean Ashenden (Black Inc Books)
• Q Anon & On: A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults
  by Van Badham (Hardie Grant Books)
• Leaping into Waterfalls by Bernadette Brennan (Allen & Unwin)
• Two Afternoons In The Kabul Stadium by Tim Bonyhady (Text Publishing)
• Making Australian History by Anna Clark (Penguin Random House)
• Signs and Wonders by Delia Falconer (Scribner Australia)
• The Asparagus Wars by Carol Major (ES Press)
• Delia Akeley and the Monkey by Ian McCalman (Upswell Publishing)
• Mafioso by Colin McLaren (Hachette Australia)
• Mortals by Rachel Menzies and Ross Menzies (Allen & Unwin)
• Inseparable Elements by Patsy Millet (Fremantle Press)
• My Tongue Is My Own by Ann-Marie Priest (La Trobe University Press)
• Red Heaven by Nicolas Rothwell (Text Publishing)
• A Great Hope by Jessica Stanley (Picador Australia)
• Here goes nothing by Steve Toltz (Penguin Random House)
• The Jane Austen Remedy by Ruth Wilson (Allen & Unwin)

The shortlist will be announced 27 September 2022. 
Major prize winners will be announced 16 November 2022.

This year’s total prize offering is $28,500. Finalists will each receive the Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize (6 x $1,000) and will be eligible for the Nib People’s Choice Prize ($2,500) and the Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award ($20,000).

Mayor of Waverley, Paula Masselos, said The Nib’s longevity reflects the importance of the Award to the Waverley community, lovers of great stories, writers and the Australian publishing industry.

Established in 2002, the Nib is the only major literary prize of its kind in Australia and Waverley Council is thrilled to present this highly respected national Awards’ program, Mayor Masselos said.

The Nib is one of the ways we nurture creativity and artistic expression in our community and I am delighted to congratulate this year’s longlisted authors.

For all the latest news, including the longlist announcement, click here to subscribe to The Nib eNewsletter.

Nib Award program inquiries: nibaward@waverley.nsw.gov.au

Media inquiries: media@waverley.nsw.gov.au or 0416 075 532

Watch the 2021 Winner Announcement here.

2021 Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award Shortlist & Winners

Published in March,  Amnesia Road: Landscape, violence and memory (NewSouth) By Luke Stegemannwon the 2021 Queensland Literary Award for Non-Fiction and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s History Awards, Australian History Prize. Queensland based Luke Stegemann, a historian, has written on art, politics, and history for a wide range of Australian and Spanish publications, and is the author of The Beautiful Obscure (Transmission Press, 2017). In 2018 he received the Malaspina Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of cultural relations between Australia and Spain

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The Nib People's Choice Prize ($2,500) is awarded by popular vote. Congratulations to Tim Olsen, one of Australia's most recognised and respected art identities, successful gallery owner and now, prize winning author.  Tim Olsen is the son of arguably Australia's greatest living artist, John Olsen. Son of the Brush is his fascinating, candid memoir of what it was like to grow up in the shadow of artistic genius, with all its wonder, excitement and bitter disappointments.

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Each of this year's finalists has won the Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize ($1,000).

Congratulations to:

• Only Happiness Here: In Search of Elizabeth von Arnim, Gabrielle Carey (UQP)
• The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek,  Kate Holden (Black Inc Books)
• A Letter to Layla: Travels to Our Deep Past and Near Future, Ramona Koval (Text Publishing)
• The Believer: Encounters with Love, Death & Faith, Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing)
• Son of the Brush, Tim Olsen (Allen & Unwin)
• Amnesia Road, Landscape, violence and memory, Luke Stegemann (NewSouth)

Meet the 2021 Mark & Evette Moran Nib Award finalists

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The 2021 Longlist

Waverley Council is delighted to announce the longlist for the 2021 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award.

• The Truth about China: Propaganda, patriotism and the search for answers,
  Bill Birtles (Allen & Unwin)
• The Husband Poisoner: Suburban women who killed in post-World War II SydneyTanya Bretherton (Hachette Australia)
• Only Happiness Here: In Search of Elizabeth von Arnim, Gabrielle Carey (UQP)
• Monsters: A reckoning, Alison Croggon (Scribe)
• Brave New Humans: The Dirty Reality of Donor Conception, Sarah Dingle (Hardie Grant)
• The Golden Maze, Richard Fidler (Harper Collins Australia)
• The Climate Cure: Solving the Climate Emergency in the Era of COVID-19,
  Tim Flannery (Text Publishing)
• The Last Lions of Africa, Anthony Ham (Allen & Unwin)
• The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek, Kate Holden (Black Inc Books)
• Where the Water Ends: Seeking Refuge in Fortress Europe, Zoe Holman (MUP)
• A Letter to Layla: Travels to Our Deep Past and Near Future, Ramona Koval (Text Publishing)
• The Believer: Encounters with Love, Death & Faith, Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing)
• Who Gets to Be Smart: Privilege, Power and Knowledge, Bri Lee (Allen & Unwin)
• Return to Uluru, Mark McKenna (Black Ink Books)
• Son of the Brush, Tim Olsen (Allen & Unwin)
• A Paper Inheritance, Dymphna Stella Rees (UQP)
• The Imitator, Rebecca Starford (Allen & Unwin)
• Amnesia Road, Landscape, violence and memory, Luke Stegemann (NewSouth Books)

The Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award is administered and presented by Waverley Council with the generous support of Principal Sponsors Mark and Evette Moran and the ongoing commitment and assistance of our community partner Gertrude and Alice Bookshop and Café.

The Nib Award acknowledges the important role played by the Friends Of Waverley Library (FOWL) in the establishment and success of the award.

About the Award

The Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award is Waverley Council’s annual celebration of the best in Australian research and writing. Established in 2002 as The Nib Waverley Library Award for Literature, this prestigious prize has so far distributed around $350,000 directly to deserving Australian authors.

Entries are open to all Australian writers regardless of their experience, chosen subject matter or genre. Submitted works are judged against the specific award criteria of excellence in research, high level of literary merit, readability and value to the community. Winners are decided by an independent panel of three judges each of whom bring a wealth of experience from across the literary world.

Events

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The Nib Presents: Ellen Van Neerven in conversation with Luke Patterson 8th Jul 2022 This July, The Nib is thrilled to partner with Red Room Poetry to present Ellen van Neerven, one of Australia’s most dynamic and acclaimed young storytellers, as they share their poetry and discuss their work and experience as the 2021 Red Room Fellowship recipient with poet Luke Patterson.

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The Nib Presents: The Writer Laid Bare, Lee Kofman with Suzanne Leal 16th Aug 2022 Best-selling author and writing coach Lee Kofman has distilled her wisdom, experience and passion for writing into her latest work, The Writer Laid Bare: Emotional honesty in a writer's art, craft and life (Venture Press). A compelling combination of raw memoir and professional writing guide, it is a must for lovers of the writer’s craft, and those trying to discover their own authentic voice. Join Lee in person at Waverley Library as she shares her valuable insights with author Suzanne Leal.

Watch on demand

2020 Award Presentation

Watch the winners interview and the judges report here.

Recent panel discussions

The Nib Presents: Guwayu – For all Times

The Nib Presents: Australian Indigenous Voices in Literature

The Nib Presents: Not so pretty: International Women’s Day

The Nib Presents: Climate and Cultural Legacies