Elise Archer,Minister for the Arts
The 2022-23 State Budget contains strong investments in our important cultural and creative industries, to ensure they can continue to grow and support local jobs across the State.
This includes our significant new investment of $90,000 in additional funding for the new biennial Tasmanian Literary Awards which reinvigorates what was previously the Premier’s Literary Prizes, providing direct support to Tasmanian writers through an expanded program of award categories that reflects the strength, depth and diversity of our Tasmanian literary community.
Nominations for the Awards are now open, providing an opportunity to honour the achievements of our local writing community, raise the profile of Tasmanian authors, and foster emerging literary talent in our State.
The expanded 2022 Awards now feature a total prize pool of $125,000 and six new award categories, providing direct support to both established and emerging Tasmanian writers. This is an increase of more than three times the prize money offered in the last awards, presented in December 2019.
I am proud to announce that new categories include the Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry, named in honour of distinguished Launceston poet Tim Thorne, who sadly passed away in September 2021.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Writer’s Fellowship will be open to all published and unpublished Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers living in Tasmania.
And for the first time, the Awards will include a prize recognising books for young readers and children.
The Tasmanian Government is a strong supporter of Tasmanian literature and I am thrilled to be able to build on our State’s strong literary tradition by recognising excellence in our writing community, and highlighting uniquely Tasmanian stories through this suite of seven award categories.
The full schedule of the Tasmanian Literary Awards includes:
- The Premier’s Prize for Fiction – $25,000 for a work of fiction by a Tasmanian writer (including short stories);
- The Premier’s Prize for Non-fiction – $25,000 for a work of non-fiction by a Tasmanian writer;
- The Minister for the Arts’ Prize for Books for Young Readers and Children – $25,000 for a published work written for children and young people in any genre;
- The Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry – $25,000 for a published book of poetry by a Tasmanian writer;
- University of Tasmania Prize – $10,000 for a new unpublished literary work by an emerging Tasmanian writer, supported by the University of Tasmania;
- Tasmanian Aboriginal Writer’s Fellowship – $10,000 for a Tasmanian First Nations writer; and
- The Margaret Scott Young Writer’s Fellowship – $5,000 for a young Tasmanian writer (aged 30 years and under).
The 2022 Tasmanian Literary Awards are now open exclusively to writers living in Tasmania.
