2026 NT Book Awards

• All entries must have been published between 01 Jan 2024 and 31 Dec 2025.
• All authors must either be current residents of, or have been born in the Northern Territory, and be Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. Proof may be requested.
• To be eligible, self-published works must be publicly available for commercial sale, have an ISBN and have been deposited to the National Library of Australia (and relevant state library/libraries) as is required for legal deposit under the Copyright Act 1968.
• Three copies of the book must be sent to PO Box 2255, Darwin NT, 0801. Alternatively, the three copies can be dropped off in person to the Darwin office.
• If an eBook is submitted, please send a printed hard copy or pdf. Judges will not access books via online platforms or systems that require a login, password or payment. 
• Books that include languages other than English are eligible. 
• Translations are eligible as long as they meet all other criteria. 

Non-eligible entries:

• Second edition books, published or electronic versions of books originally released in a previous calendar year.
• Anthologies of poems, essays or stories. 
• Books generated by AI.

• Submission is via the form below.
• Entry fee is $53 per book entered.
• NT Writers’ Centre members get one free submission.
• Payment can be made on our website and you will be taken to the payment page as part of the application form.
• If you are submitting more than one book, please complete a separate application form for each submission.
• Three copies of the book must be mailed to the NT Writers’ Centre’s Darwin office – GPO Box 2255, Darwin NT 0801. They may also be dropped off in the NT Book Awards drop off box at our Darwin office, Second Floor, Harbour View Plaza, 8 McMinn Street, Darwin.

Judging

• Each book will be judged by a minimum of two judges.
• Judges will shortlist up to 9 books, and identify 3 winners.
• Categories will be awarded at judge’s discretion. If insufficient entries are received, judges may elect not to award a category. 
• Judges may move a book into another category if they deem that more appropriate. 
• The shortlist and winners will be awarded to the books deemed to possess the highest literary merit by the judges. 
• In illustrated works for children, the literary and artistic merit of the work as a whole will be considered by the judges.
• The judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into with either the judges, the staff or the board of the NTWC or the project sponsors.

• Copyright is retained by the author/s of the work.
• Books that are the collective work of a community group, must have all contributors (authors, illustrators and/or photographers) individually identified as a co-author of the book, and if shortlisted or wins, each member identified should receive an equal share of the prize money
• If a registered organisation enters a book, and is shortlisted or wins, prize money will be awarded to the registered organisation to distribute equal share of the prize money to each author listed.

Children / Young Adult

• Tangki Tjuta Donkeys by Tjanpi Desert Weavers

Non-fiction

• Living in Tin by Linda Wells

Fiction

• Hush by Ciella Williams

Return to Dust by Dani Powell (Best Fiction)
Peace Crimes by Kieran Finnane (Best Nonfiction)
Tjanimaku Tjukurpa: How one young man came good by NPY Women’s Council Uti Kulintjaku Watiku (men’s) group (Best YA/Children’s)
Mum’s Elephant by Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe. Illustrated by Christina Booth (Special Mention)

Walking With Camels – The Story of Bertha Strehlow by Leni Shilton (Best Fiction)
Stranger Country by Monica Tan (Best Nonfiction)

A Song Only I Can Hear by Barry Jonsberg  (Best YA/Children’s)

Broken by Mary Anne Butler (Book of Year)

Living in Hope by Frank Byrne with Franny Coughlan & Gerard Waterford (Best Nonfiction)

Too Many Cheeky Dogs by Johanna Bell & Dion Beasley (Best YA/Children’s)

Nona and Me by Clare Atkins, &, Highway of Lost Hearts by Mary Anne Butler (Joint winners, Book of the Year)

Tambora Travels to Sumbawa and the Mountain That Changed the World by Derek Pugh (Best Nonfiction)

My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald (Best YA/Children’s)

One Thousand Cuts by Rod Moss (Book of the Year)

The Long Weekend in Alice Springs by Craig San Roque and Joshua Santospirito (Best Nonfiction)

Barry Jonsberg: My Life as an Alphabet (Best YA/Children’s)

Northern Voyagersby Alan Powell (Book of the Year & Best Nonfiction)

Savannah Dreams by Lolia Stewart and Elaine Russell (Best YA/Children’s)

The Hard Light of Day by Rod Moss. (Book of Year)
Iwenhe Tyerrtye – what it means to be an Aboriginal person, Margaret Kemarre Turner OAM (Best Nonfiction)
Twinkle by Nick Bland (Best YA/Children’s)

Every Secret Thing by Marie Munkara (Book of the Year)
The Red Highway by Nicholas Rothwell (Best Nonfiction)
The Devil You Know by Leonie Norrington (Best YA/Children’s)

An Intruder’s Guide to Arnhem Land by Andrew McMillan (Book of the Year)