Martin Thomas Wins $40,000 Mark and Evette Nib Literary Award

07 November 2025 | Council News

Waverley Council is delighted to announce that acclaimed historian and essayist Martin Thomas has been awarded the 2025 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award for his book Clever Men (Allen & Unwin), with Rick Morton also being announced as the People’s Choice Prize winner for his book Mean Streak (4th Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers).

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Photo credit: Grant Leslie

Presented at the Bondi Pavilion on Thursday 6 November, this year’s Award saw Thomas take home the top prize of $40,000. The winning book was selected from 174 submissions by the judging panel, Sydney based writer, editor, and arts producer Lliane Clarke, publisher and award-winning editor Julia Carlomagno, and author and publishing professional Angela Meyer.

Judge Julia Carlomagno said, “‘Martin Thomas’s Clever Men – which details Charles Mountford’s contentious expedition to Arnhem Land in 1948 in its true complexity – is a poignant examination of the collision between Western scientific hubris and Indigenous knowledges. Almost 20 years in the making, it draws on oral testimony as well as archival resources and is based on close collaboration with the communities it features. It is exemplary historical scholarship and a cracking read. It tells a story of national significance and deserves to be widely read and absorbed.”

In Clever Men, Thomas uncovers what really happened when Charles Mountford led a quarrelsome team of Australian and American scientists to explore traditional Aboriginal life in Arnhem Land in 1948. Drawing on years of collaborative research with Arnhem Land communities, Thomas’ work is a poignant portrayal of colliding worlds, scientific hubris and the world’s oldest surviving culture.

Thomas is a multi-award-winning researcher, essayist, documentary maker and oral historian whose work is driven by a deep interest in the meaning of landscapes, the legacies of colonisation and the drama of cross-cultural encounter. A Professor of History at the Australian National University, he has published ten scholarly books including The Many Worlds of R.H. Mathews which won the National Biography Award.

Awarded by popular vote, Rick Morton will take home the $4,000 People’s Choice prize after his work collected over 70% of the total votes received.

Thomas and Morton will also take home the $1,500 Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize, along with this year’s other finalists: Max Dupain by Helen Ennis, ACT (4th Estate), Black Witness by Amy McQuire, QLD (University of Queensland Press), Mean Streak by Rick Morton, NSW (4th Estate), Cactus Pear for My Beloved by Samah Sabawi, VIC (Penguin), and I Am Nannertgarrook by Tasma Walton, WA (Bundyi).

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Now in its 24th year, the Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award is one of the country’s most high-profile and valuable book prizes, celebrating the very best of Australian research-based literature.

Since the Award’s inception in 2002, a total of almost half a million dollars in prize money has been presented directly to authors with nominations judged on literary merit, research, readability, and value to the community.

Previous winners of the Award include celebrated writer Melissa Lucashenko, historians Alison Bashford and Claire Wright, biologist Tim Low, novelists Helen Garner and Delia Falconer, and journalist Gideon Haigh.

For more information, please visit https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/nib.

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

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2025 PRIZE WINNERS
2025 Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award Winner ($40,000)
Martin Thomas, Clever Men (Allen & Unwin) ACT

Nib People’s Choice Prize ($4,000)
Rick Morton, Mean Streak (4th Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) NSW

Finalists – Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize ($1,500)
Helen Ennis, Max Dupain (4th Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) ACT
Amy McQuire, Black Witness (University of Queensland Press) QLD
Samah Sabawi, Cactus Pear for My Beloved (Penguin) VIC
Tasma Walton, I Am Nannertgarrook (Bundyi, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Australia) WA


For Media Enquiries, please contact:
Kabuku Public Relations
Belinda Dyer | belinda@kabukupr.com.au | 0415 686 014
Sean Radecki | sean@kabukupr.com.au |0421 402 252
For Nib Award enquiries, please contact:
nibaward@waverley.nsw.gov.au