Six non-fiction books ranging from a history of Australian politics to a powerful memoir written after a daughter's death are in the running for the annual $10,000 ACT Book of the Year Award.
Marion Halligan, a Canberra writer who has had a lengthy and well-recognised career in the capital, was shortlisted for Words For Lucy, a memoir about her family and the death of her daughter. Halligan was a joint winner of the first award in 1993 and won again in 2004 and 2010.
Lawyer and researcher Katrina Marson was shortlisted for Legitimate Sexpectations, a "courageous and well-researched book driven by a resolute mission to provoke an important public discussion and to inspire reform in sex education in Australia".
Australian National University history professor Frank Bongiorno was shortlisted for Dreamers and Schemers, an account of the country's political history from its earliest years to the COVID-19 era. Bongiorno won the award in 2013 for The Sex Lives of Australians: A History and in 2016 for The Eighties.
Former diplomat Robert Bowker was shortlisted for Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots, an account of his near four-decade career, spent mostly on postings in the Middle East.
Lohrey, a monograph on the life and writing career of Miles Franklin winner Amanda Lohrey, by Julieanne Lamond, a lecturer in Australian literature at the Australian National University, was also shortlisted.
Niki Savva's Bulldozed: Scott Morrison's fall and Anthony Albanese's rise was shortlisted, praised as a "unique insight into the hidden world of Australian politics and the underlying turbulence that has influenced the recent political landscape".
Savva's book, published by Scribe, was on Wednesday announced as the winner of the 2023 Australian Political Book of the Year.
The six shortlisted books were selected from 38 eligible nominations for books published in 2022. The nominations ranged across fiction, non-fiction and poetry, the government said.
Arts Minister Tara Cheyne, who announced the shortlist, congratulated the authors.
"The award recognises the important contribution our local authors make to Canberra's arts and culture and aims to inspire and develop emerging local writers. The finalists this year exemplify the high calibre of talent and creativity of our writing community," Ms Cheyne said.
"The Book of the Year Award celebrates the excellence of our local writers and I hope encourages others to put pen to paper, too."
The 2023 Book of the Year Award has been judged by author Kaaron Warren, academic Adam Broinowski and Palawa writer Dylan Van Den Berg, whose play Milk was highly commended in the 2022 Book of tthe Year Award.
Past winners of the award include Lucy Neave (Believe in Me, 2022), Subhash Jaireth (Spinoza's Overcoat: Travels with writers and poets, 2021),
- Jasper Lindell was a judge of the 2022 ACT Book of the Year
