Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing

The Victorian Premier's Prize for Indigenous Writing is a prize category in the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award. The award commenced in 2004^[1] and in 2012 the prize was valued at A$20,000.^[2] The winner of this category prize competes with the other category winners for overall Victorian Prize for Literature valued at an additional A$100,000. Nominees are allowed to enter other categories of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards.^[3]

In 2004 Vivienne Cleven was the inaugural winner.^[1] The prize value was increased to A$25,000 in 2016.^[4]

Winners and shortlists

Winners of the Overall Victorian Prize for Literature have a blue ribbon ().

Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing winners and finalists^[1]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2004	Vivienne Cleven	Her Sister's Eye	Winner
	Larissa Behrendt	Home	Finalist
	Dennis McDermott	Dorothy's Skin	Finalist
2006	Tara June Winch	Swallow the Air	Winner
	Fabienne Bayet	Watershed	Finalist
	Jared Thomas	Sweet Guy	Finalist
	Noel C. Tovey	Little Black Bastard: A Story of Survival	Finalist
2008	Yvette Holt	Anonymous Premonition	Winner
	Gayle Kennedy	Me, Antman and Fleabag	Finalist
	John Maynard	Fight for Liberty and Freedom: The Origins of Australian Aboriginal Activism	Finalist
2010	Larissa Behrendt	Legacy	Winner	[5]
	Kate Howarth	Ten Hail Marys: A Memoir	Finalist
	Lorraine McGee-Sippel	Hey Mum, What's a Half-Caste?	Finalist
2012	Anita Heiss	Am I Black Enough For You?	Winner	[6][7]
	Jeanine Leane	Purple Threads	Finalist	[8]
	Nicole Watson	The Boundary	Finalist	[8]
2014	Melissa Lucashenko	Mullumbimby	Winner	[2]
	Tony Birch	The Promise	Finalist
	Lionel Fogarty	Mogwie-Idan: Stories of the Land	Finalist
	Bruce Pascoe	Dark Emu	Finalist
	Jared Thomas	Calypso Summer	Finalist
	Alexis Wright	The Swan Book	Finalist
2016	Tony Birch	Ghost River	Winner	[4][9][10]
	Ali Cobby Eckermann	Inside My Mother	Finalist	[11]
	Ellen van Neerven	Heat and Light	Finalist	[11]
2019	Kim Scott	Taboo	Winner	[12]
	Tony Birch	Common People	Finalist	[13]
	Melissa Lucashenko	Too Much Lip	Finalist	[13]
	Alison Whittaker	Blakwork	Finalist	[13]
2021	Archie Roach	Tell Me Why: The story of my life and my music	Winner	[14]
	Kirli Saunders	Kindred	Finalist	[15][16]
	Nardi Simpson	Song of the Crocodile	Finalist	[15][16]
	Karen Wyld	Where the Fruit Falls	Finalist	[15][16]
2022	Veronica Gorrie	Black and Blue: A memoir of racism and resilience	Winner	[17][18]
	Evelyn Araluen	Dropbear	Finalist	[19]
	Gary Lonesborough	The Boy from the Mish	Finalist	[19]
	S. J. Norman	Permafrost	Finalist	[19]
	Elfie Shiosaki	Homecoming	Finalist	[19]
	Chelsea Watego	Another Day in the Colony	Finalist	[19]
2023	Lystra Rose	The Upwelling	Winner	[20][21][22]
	Lionel Fogarty	Harvest Lingo	Finalist	[23][24][25]
	Karlie Noon and Krystal De Napoli	Astronomy	Finalist	[23][24][25]
	Amy Thunig	Tell Me Again	Finalist	[23][24][25]
2024	Daniel Browning	Close to the Subject: Selected works	Finalist	[26]
	John Morrissey	Firelight	Finalist	[26]
	Ellen van Neerven	Personal Score: Sport, culture, identity	Finalist	[26]
2025	Amy McQuire	Black Witness	Winner	[27]
	Kirli Saunders	Afloat	Finalist	[28]
	Gary Lonesborough	I'm Not Really Here	Finalist	[28]
	Elfie Shiosaki	Refugia	Finalist	[28]