Key Facts:
- Waverley Council has announced the six finalists for the 2026 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, worth $40,000, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
- The shortlisted titles are *Elizabeth Harrower: The Woman in the Watch Tower* by Susan Wyndham, *Sideshow History* by Jennifer Harrison, *Snake Talk* by Tyson Yunkaporta and Megan Kelleher, *The Book that Taught the World to Orgasm and then Disappeared* by Rosa Campbell, *The Names of a Hare* by Bernice Barry, and *The Trap* by Fiona Kelly McGregor
- Each finalist will receive a $1,500 Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize and will be eligible for the $4,000 Nib People's Choice Prize, with public voting open from 8th September to 8th October 2026.
- Winners will be announced on 19th November 2026 at Bondi Pavilion, followed by Waverley Council's inaugural Bondi Books and Ideas Weekend on 21st-22nd November 2026.
8th September, 2026: Waverley Council is thrilled to announce the 2026 $40,000 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award finalists, marking the 25th anniversary of the award.
The six shortlisted books for 2026 are Elizabeth Harrower: The woman in the watch tower by Susan Wyndham (NSW), Sideshow History by Jennifer Harrison (VIC), Snake Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta and Megan Kelleher (VIC), The Book that Taught the World to Orgasm and then Disappeared: Shere Hite and The Hite Report by Rosa Campbell (NSW), The Names of a Hare by Bernice Barry (WA) and The Trap by Fiona Kelly McGregor (NSW). Dear Madman by Edwina Shaw (QLD) was highly commended by the judges.
Each of the six finalists will receive the $1,500 Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize and are eligible for the $4,000 Nib People's Choice Prize, awarded by popular vote.
Now in its 25th year, the Nib Literary Award is one of Australia's most high-profile and valuable book prizes, celebrating the most compelling research-based literature published annually.
Nominations are judged on literary merit, quality of research, readability, and value to the community, with the total prize money presented to Australian authors reaching almost half a million dollars.
This year's award judges, include Sydney-based writer, editor and arts producer Lliane Clarke; writer, critic, and Adjunct Research Fellow (School of Humanities) at La Trobe University Stephen Romei; multi-award-winning researcher, essayist, historian and 2025 Nib Award winner Martin Thomas; and author, editor, and critic Kirsten Tranter.
On this year's shortlist selection, the panel said, "The judges were happily reminded that research-based literature is in robust health in Australia. 176 books were entered for the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award in 2026. In selecting a shortlist of six, we were struck not only by the range of topics and locations chosen by writers but by the variety of genres represented. History and biography sit alongside poetry, historical fiction, and Indigenous traditions of yarning. The shortlisted titles are grounded, outward looking, and ambitious in just the right way."
This year's finalists were chosen from a vibrant variety of works across non-fiction, fiction, drama and poetry.
Voting for the Nib People's Choice Awards opens on 8th September, 2026 and closes on 8th October via Waverley.nsw.gov.au/nib
Recipients of the People's Choice Prize and the $40,000 Mark and Evette Nib Literary Award will be announced at a public event on Thursday 19th November, 2026 at Bondi Pavilion.
Previous winners include novelists Melissa Lucashenko, Helen Garner and Delia Falconer, biologist Tim Low, journalist Gideon Haigh, and historian Claire Wright.
The 2025 Award was won by historian Martin Thomas for his novel Clever Men: How worlds collided on the scientific expedition to Arnhem Land of 1948.
The Nib Literary Award evening on Thursday 19th November will be the first of a dynamic suite of talks and ideas events. Waverley Council's inaugural Bondi Books and Ideas Weekend follows on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd November 2026, which brings together an inspiring and entertaining mix of authors, subject matter experts and raconteurs for a celebration of books, ideas and community.
