The Age Book of The Year non-fiction shortlist 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Age Book of the Year awards have been announced. Gutsy Girls by Josie McSkimming has been chosen by judges for The Age Book of The Year non-fiction shortlist!
Judges for this year’s awards are author and critic Bram Presser and essayist and critic Beejay Silcox (fiction), as well as he Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s Canberra bureau chief Michelle Griffin and reviewer and Caritas Australia mission director Michael McGirr (nonfiction).
The judges for the non-fiction section, author, reviewer and mission director of Caritas Australia, Michael McGirr, and The Age and TheSydney Morning Herald Canberra bureau chief Michelle Griffin, both praised the “resilient practitioners of the endangered craft of non-fiction writing”, especially in a time where some might rely on AI for factual research.
In 2025, Rodney Hall won the fiction award for Vortex (Picador) and Lech Blaine won the nonfiction prize for Australian Gospel (Black Inc.).
Shortlisted works in the non-fiction category for 2026 are:
Non-fiction
- Blue Poles (Tom McIlroy, Hachette)
- Gutsy Girls (Josie McSkimming, UQP)
- Mr and Mrs Gould (Grantlee Kieza, ABC Books)
- The Red House (Kate Wild, A&U)
- The Shortest History of Australia (Mark McKenna, Black Inc.)
- A Woman’s Eye, Her Art (Drusilla Modjeska, Penguin)
Winners will be announced during the Melbourne Writers Festival opening night on 7 May, with each category winner to receive $10,000.
Read more about the shortlists here.
