Shortlist Announced for the 2025 Indie Book Awards

Australian independent booksellers have nominated their favourite Australian books of 2024 and are thrilled to announce their SHORTLIST for the Indie Book Awards 2025!

Established in 2008, the Indie Book Awards celebrate the best Australian writing; and who better to nominate and judge the best-of-the-best than indie booksellers! What makes indie booksellers uniquely placed to judge and recommend the best Aussie books of the past year, is their incredible passion and knowledge, their contribution to the cultural diversity of the Australian reading public, by recommending beyond the big brands, and above all, their love of quality writing. The Awards recognise and celebrate indie booksellers as the number one supporters of Australian authors.

Leanne Kadareanu, Head of Books at Leading Edge Retail, proud facilitator of the awards says:

“This year’s Shortlist for the Indie Book Awards is bursting with the richness and diversity of Australian storytelling. Chosen by passionate independent booksellers who live and breathe books, these incredible books will connect, challenge and inspire readers and are the must-reads of the year.”

Announced early in the award calendar year, The Indie Book Awards are now considered the forerunners of all major Australian book awards. The Awards cover the best Australian books in six categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Debut Fiction, Illustrated Non-Fiction, Children’s books (up to 12yo) and Young Adult (12+).

The Category Winners and the Overall Book of the Year Winner will be announced at a virtual awards event on Monday 24 March 2025.

Since the Awards inception, independent booksellers have a well-deserved reputation for picking the best of the best in Australian writing. Past Book of the Year winners have gone on to be bestsellers and win other major literary awards. Previous winners include: Killing for Country: A Family Story by David Marr, Runt by Craig Silvey, Love Stories by Trent Dalton; The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams; There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett; Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton; Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend; The Dry by Jane Harper; The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood; The Bush by Don Watson; The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan; The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman; All That I Am by Anna Funder; The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do; Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey; and Breath by Tim Winton.

The Shortlist for the Indie Book Awards 2025 is:

FICTION SHORTLIST

Dusk by Robbie Arnott (Picador Australia)

Cherrywood by Jock Serong (Fourth Estate Australia)

The Ledge by Christian White (Affirm Press)

Juice by Tim Winton (Hamish Hamilton)

NON-FICTION SHORTLIST

We Are the Stars by Gina Chick (Summit Books)

The Season by Helen Garner (Text Publishing)

Sister Viv by Grantlee Kieza (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)

Three Wild Dogs and the Truth by Markus Zusak (Picador Australia)

DEBUT FICTION SHORTLIST

The Deed by Susannah Begbie (Hachette Australia)

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston (Michael Joseph)

All The Bees in the Hollows by Lauren Keegan (Affirm Press)

Pheasants Nest by Louise Milligan (Allen & Unwin)

ILLUSTRATED NON-FICTION SHORTLIST

The Paintings of Criss Canning by Criss Canning (Thames & Hudson Australia)

RecipeTin Eats: Tonight by Nagi Maehashi (Macmillan Australia)

The Diaries of Fred Williams 1963–1970 by Patrick McCaughey (Miegunyah Press)

Tony Tan's Asian Cooking Class by Tony Tan (Murdoch Books)

CHILDREN’S SHORTLIST

To Stir with Love by Kate Mildenhall, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft (Simon & Schuster Australia)

All the Beautiful Things by Katrina Nannestad (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)

The Midwatch by Judith Rossell (Hardie Grant Children's Publishing)

The 113th Assistant Librarian by Stuart Wilson (Penguin Australia)

YOUNG ADULT SHORTLIST

Comes the Night by Isobelle Carmody (Allen & Unwin Children's)

Eleanor Jones Can’t Keep a Secret by Amy Doak (Penguin Australia)

My Family and Other Suspects by Kate Emery (Allen & Unwin Children's)

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma (Lothian Children's Books)

The Indie Book Awards would like to gratefully acknowledge the 2025 Awards Sponsors: HarperCollins Publishers, Allen & Unwin, Melbourne University Press, Affirm Press, Thames & Hudson, Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House.