Shortlist Announced for the Indie Book Awards 2026

Australian independent booksellers have nominated their favourite Australian books of 2025 and are thrilled to announce their SHORTLIST for the Indie Book Awards 2026!

Since 2008, the Indie Book Awards have recognised the finest Australian writing and who better to nominate and judge theses standout titles than indie booksellers? Passionate and knowledgeable, these booksellers champion Australian literature well beyond the big names, enriching the diversity of Australia's reading culture. These awards honour their essential role in supporting Australian storytellers.

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

“The 2026 Indie Book Awards Shortlist highlights the depth, creativity and diversity of Australian writing today. Selected by independent booksellers who champion Australian books every day, these standout titles represent the very best of Australian publishing this 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 23 March 2026. 

Since the Awards inception, independent booksellers have a well-deserved reputation for picking the best of the best in Australian writing. Many past Book of the Year winners have gone on to be bestsellers and win other major literary awards. Previous winners include: Dusk by Robbie Arnott; Killing for Country: A Family Story by David Marr; 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; and Breath by Tim Winton.

The Shortlist for the Indie Book Awards 2026 is:

FICTION SHORTLIST

Tenderfoot by Toni Jordan (Hachette Australia)

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Penguin Australia)

One Hundred Years of Betty by Debra Oswald (Allen & Unwin)

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (Macmillan Australia)

NON FICTION SHORTLIST

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks (Hachette Australia)

The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper & Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing)

Always Home, Always Homesick by Hannah Kent (Picador Australia)

A Bunker in Kyiv by John Lyons (ABC Books, HarperCollins Australia)

DEBUT FICTION SHORTLIST

The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary (Affirm Press)

Daughters of Batavia by Stefanie Koens (HarperCollins Australia)

Melaleuca by Angie Faye Martin (HQ Fiction)

When Sleeping Women Wake by Emma Pei Yin (Hachette Australia)

ILLUSTRATED NON FICTION SHORTLIST

The ADHD Brain Buddy by Matilda Boseley (Penguin Australia)

Planting for Native Birds, Bees and Butterflies by Jaclyn Crupi (Murdoch Books)

Wild by Design by Tim Pilgrim (Murdoch Books)

THAI by Nat Thaipun (Hardie Grant Books)

CHILDREN’S SHORTLIST

There's a Prawn in Parliament House: The Kids' Guide to Australia's Amazing Democracy by Annabel Crabb, illustrated by First Dog on the Moon (Allen & Unwin Children's)

Harry and Gran Bake a Cake by Fiona McIntosh, illustrated by Sara Acton (Puffin)

Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (Lothian Children's Books)

YOUNG ADULT SHORTLIST

The Foal in the Wire by Robbie Coburn (Lothian Children's Books)

Eleanor Jones is Playing with Fire by Amy Doak (Penguin Australia)

Drift by Pip Harry (Lothian Children's Books)

Wandering Wild by Lynette Noni (Penguin Australia)

The Indie Book Awards would like to gratefully acknowledge the 2026 Awards Sponsors: HarperCollins Publishers, Allen & Unwin, Melbourne University Press, Pan Macmillan Australia, Thames & Hudson, Hachette Australia and Penguin Random House.