|
Mary Gilmore Award
To be given for the best first book of poetry published in the previous calendar year.
Terms and Conditions
The prize is for a poet’s first book which contains 32 or more pages of poetry.
History of the Award
Until 2016, the Mary Gilmore Award was for the best first book of poetry in the previous two calendar years. Until 1999 it was awarded to the best first book of poetry published in the previous calendar year. The current terms and conditions arise from a ruling at the 2018 ASAL Annual General Meeting.
Submission process
There is a 2-step process.
- Deadline for the nomination form is 24 October 2025.
Please select the appropriate form – ASAL Member / Public OR Publisher
Nomination forms must be emailed to [email protected].
2. Publishers will need to submit volumes to the judges by 7 November 2025.
Contact details for judges will be provided immediately on receipt of the Nomination Form.
Please note that all submissions will be received in confidence and securely held. Information provided will be used only for the purpose of administering the award. Entries will be accepted including proofs and embargoed copies for works published between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.
ASAL thanks everyone for their participation in this process.
Selection process
The awarding of the prize is administered and judged by a panel of three judges established by ASAL. The judges’ decision is final.
About the Mary Gilmore Award
Mary Gilmore Award for poetry is an annual prize. The prize given for the best first book of poetry published in the previous calendar year
Eligibility
Nominations are invited for a first book of poetry that contains 32 or more page of poetry and is published in the year prior to the year of the award
Terms and conditions
The Mary Gilmore Award will be awarded next in July 2026.
Late entries will not be accepted.
Nominations may be made either by the author or, with the nominee’s permission, by the book’s publishers or by any member of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL).
If two winners are chosen, the prize will be shared between them.
The judges’ decision is final.
Queries
Queries should be directed to Dr Monique Rooney (ASAL Prize Coordinator)
Mary Gilmore Award 2026
Judges:
aj carruthers (chair), Bella Li and Autumn Royal
Mary Gilmore Award winner 2025
Hasib Hourani, Rock Flight (Giramondo)
Judges: Kate Fagan (chair) Jazz Money, and Mark Byron
Mary Gilmore Award shortlist 2025
Bilal Hafda, An Army of Light (Guest House)
Ashley Haywood, Polyp (Vagabond)
Hasib Hourani, Rock Flight (Giramondo)
Nam Le, 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem (Scribner)
Roslyn Orlando, Ekho (Upswell)
Barrina South, Makarra (Recent Work Press)
Warmest congratulations to all the shortlisted poets, and many thanks to the judges, Kate Fagan, Jazz Money, and Mark Byron. The winner will be announced at the awards night of the upcoming ASAL + IABA conference of 30 June.
Mary Gilmore Award Citations 2025
Winner 2024
Dan Hogan Secret Third Thing, Cordite
Judges: Lachlan Brown (chair); Melinda Smith; and David Gilbey
Mary Gilmore Award Shortlist 2024:
Paris Rosemont, Banana Girl, West Words
Ella Skillbeck-Porter, These are Different Waters, Vagabond Press
Grace Yee, Chinese Fish, Giramondo
Tais Rose Wae, Riverbed Sky Songs, Vagabond Press
Dan Hogan, Secret Third Thing, Cordite
Sara Saleh, The Flirtation of Girls, UQP
Thanks to the Mary Gilmore judging panel: Lachlan Brown (chair); Melinda Smith; and David Gilbey. Thanks, also, to Tanya Dalziel for coordination of this and all other prizes.
Mary Gilmore Award Winner 2023
Harry Reid, Leave Me Alone
Mary Gilmore Award 2023 Shortlist
Eva Collins, Ask No Questions (Puncher & Wattmann, 2022)
Harry Reid, Leave Me Alone (Cordite Books, 2022)
Gareth Morgan, When A Punk Becomes A Spunk (Rabbit, 2022)
Mary Gilmore Award 2022 Winner
Jelena Dinić, In the Room with the She Wolf (Wakefield Press)
Mary Gilmore Award 2022 Shortlist
- Evelyn Araluen, Drop Bear (UQP)
- Jelena Dinić, In the Room with the She Wolf (Wakefield Press)
- Eleanor Jackson, Gravidity and Parity (Vagabond Press)
- Teena McCarthy, Bush Mary (Cordite)
- Damen O’Brien, Animals with Human Voices (Recent Work Press)
- Lucy Van, The Open (Cordite)
Winner of the Mary Gilmore Award 2021
Em König, Breathing Plural (Cordite)
Mary Gilmore Award 2021 Shortlist
Mary Gilmore Award 2019 Winner:
That Sight by Marjon Mossammaparast (Cordite, 2018)
Mary Gilmore Award 2019 Shortlist:
-
- About The Author Is Dead by Pascalle Burton (Cordite, 2018)
-
- Calenture by Lindsay Tuggle (Cordite, 2018)
-
- Crave by Holly Friedlander Liddicoat (Rabbit Books, 2018)
-
- Flood Damages by Eunice Andrada (Giramondo, 2018)
-
- That Sight by Marjon Mossammaparast (Cordite, 2018)
-
- The Hijab Files by Maryam Azam (Giramondo, 2018)
More Information:
Previous Winners
2018 Quinn Eades for Rallying UWA Publishing
2017 Aden Rolfe for False Nostalgia Giramondo
2016 Benedict Andrews for Lens Flare Pitt Street Poetry
2014 Rose Lucas for Even in the Dark UWA Publishing
2012 Fiona Wright for Knuckled Giramondo
2010 Joanna Preston for The Summer King Otago University Press
2008 Nathan Shepherdson for Sweeping the Light Back into the Mirror UQP
2006 David McCooey for Blister Pack Salt Publishing
2004 Michael Brennan The Imageless World Salt Publishing
2002 Geraldine McKenzie for Duty Paperbark Press
2000 Lucy Dougan for Memory Shell Five Islands Press
1998 Emma Lew for The Wild Reply Black Pepper Press
1997 Morgan Yasbincek for Night Reversing Fremantle Arts Centre Press
1996 Jordie Albiston for Nervous Arcs Spinifex Press
1995 Aileen Kelly for Coming Up for Light Pariah Press
1994 Deborah Staines for Now, Millennium Spinifex Press
1993 Jill Jones for The Mask and Jagged Star Hazard Poets
1992 Alison Croggon for This is the Stone Penguin
1991 Jean Kent for Verandahs Hale and Iremonger
1990 Kristopher Rassemussen for In the Name of the Father False Frontiers
1989 Alex Skovron for The Re-arrangement MUP
1988 Judith Beveridge for The Domesticity of Giraffes Black Lightning Press
1987 Jan Owen for Boy with Telescope A and R
1986 Stephen Williams for A Crowd of Voices Pariah Press
1985 Doris Brett for The Truth about Unicorns
Previous Reports
