ALS Gold Medal Shortlist 2026

We are proud to announce that Disciplineby Randa Abdel Fattah and The Nightmare Sequence by Omar Sakr & Safdar Ahmed have been shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal shortlist 2026!

The ALS Gold Medal is awarded annually for an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year. The winner receives a gold medal.

The Medal was inaugurated by the Australian Literature Society, which was founded in Melbourne in 1899 and incorporated into the Association for the Study of Australian Literature in 1982. The winner receives a gold medal. ASAL members are invited to propose potential winners to the judging panel and publishers are also invited to nominate titles.

The awarding of the prize is administered and judged by a panel set up by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature. The 2026 Judging panel is comprised of: Paul Sharrad (chair), Michelle Cahill, and Kate Noske, and with many thanks as well to ASAL prizes co-ordinator Monique Rooney.

Congratulations Randa, Omar and Safdar for being shortlisted!

Nominated UQP Titles part of the longlist announced earlier in the year:
Randa Abdel Fattah, Discipline (UQP)
Evelyn Araluen, Rot (UQP)
Natalia Figueroa Barroso, Hailstones fell without rain (UQP)
Omar Sakr & Safdar Ahmed, The Nightmare Sequence (UQP)

Read more about the other shortlisted titles on the ALS website.