Meet the winners of the 2026 ACT Literary Awards
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Bookworms, your TBR is about to get a whole lot bigger.
There’s nothing like curling up with a good book in winter – and if you’re looking for something new to read, there are plenty of amazing books by local authors worth picking up.
Following the ACT Literary Awards (an annual celebration of authors across poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature), we’ve rounded up the winners so you can keep your eyes peeled at your next bookshop visit.
Here are the local books you’ll want to read.
In The Name of the Trees by Merlinda Bobis
Named the winner of the Fiction Award in the ACT Literary Awards, In the Name of the Trees blends myth, memory and history to tell an unforgettable intergenerational story: Lola Narra trying to heal her granddaughter Dao, who was paralysed in an accident that killed her father.
The novel spans four generations of women shaped by war, colonisation, migration, and ecological loss, sharing a story of cultural survival, resilience, and kinship set between the Philippines and Australia (including Canberra).
To Heal a Lyrebird by Kate Liston-Mills
From the author of The Waterfowl Are Drunk! and Dear Ibis comes a poignant journey of courage, strength and love in the face of the unfathomable.
Pambula-based author Kate Liston-Mills’ To Heal a Lyrebird focuses on the bond between a mother and her son and asks the question “Can they survive a broken world when all the odds are against them, and nothing is as it was before?”
Versailles Mirrored: The Power of Luxury, Louis XIV to Donald Trump by Robert Wellington
Ever wondered why Versailles remains a powerful point of reference for those who wish to flaunt their social, cultural, and political capital? Versailles Mirrored explores just that.
Written by Robert Wellington – Associate Professor of Art History in the Centre for Art History and Art Theory at The Australian National University – the book examines the enduring fascination with the Sun King’s palace through eight case studies spanning the 17th to 21st centuries.
It’s an interesting investigation of cultural capital, taste, and the use of luxury in statecraft.
Washpool by Lisa Fuller
A magical middle-grade adventure about two sisters who need to rely on their own wits and bravery, Washpool is the second book from Lisa Fuller, a Wuilli Wuilli woman from Eidsvold, Queensland descended from Wakka Wakka and Gooreng Gooreng peoples.
Washpool blends classic Alice in Wonderland elements with First Nations mythology and follows Bella and Cienna as they are accidentally transported to the strange new world of Muse, where they work with magical creatures on an eye-opening quest. Washpool is written for ages nine and up.
Arsenic Flower by Dakota Feirer
From black&write! fellowship winner and Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr man Dakota Feirer comes, Arsenic Flower.
In this debut collection, he explores the legacy of generational trauma and the cultural wisdom of First Nations people. Using dazzling imagery and rhythms inspired by lo-fi hip-hop, the poems confront the violence of colonialism that echoes still in the complexities of blak masculinity.
Powerful, diverse and original, we promise that you haven’t read anything like Arsenic Flower before.
Playtime by Emily Gallagher
This groundbreaking book, exploring the history of children’s play and imagination in Australia between 1890 and the Second World War, will change the way you see Australian social history and tells vital stories about social relations, change and continuity.
Built around six imaginative worlds (amateur journalism, bird loving, war and adventure, dolls, the future, and monsters and fairies), Playtime tells the story of the generations that grew up at a time when nation and empire were being reimagined amid the globalising currents of war, technology and trade.
Peculiar Parents by Stephanie Owen Reeder and illustrated by Ingrid Bartkowiak
Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder is the author of over 25 books for both children and adults, and Peculiar Parents is her latest publication. Introducing children to 60 Australian animal species – from parrots that play the drums to dancing spiders – the book focuses on all things family.
Peculiar Parents is full of amazing facts that young readers will love, from picking a mate to making a home, having babies, finding food and looking after one another.
It’s ideal for ages six to 12.
Wita Witalana by Paul Collis
Wita Witalana is Paul Collis’ second collection of poetry, and in it you’ll find a powerful call to listen to the messages carried through the trees.
A reminder of the stories etched within the Australian soil, the poetry asks readers not only to see the effects of colonialism on a people, but to experience those effects as someone thrown into its brutal shadows.
It’s a meditation on the complexities of Indigenous life in contemporary Australia, containing themes of longing, memory, and the enduring strength of connection to land and culture.
The Dingo’s Noctuary by Judith Nangala Crispin
An illustrated 70,500-word verse novel by acclaimed poet, visual artist, motorcyclist and volunteer firefighter Judith Nangala Crispin, The Dingo’s Noctuary has received several awards and prizes, including the 2023 Sunshine Coast Art Prize and the 2020 Blake Prize for Poetry.
The story is set against a backdrop of Australia’s central deserts and unfolds through combinations of poetry and prose, alongside maps of land and stars, plant pressings, and 47 afterlife portraits of animals and birds.
Exploring themes of identity, belonging, and the fragile threads that connect all living beings, The Dingo’s Noctuary was awarded the 2026 Marion Halligan Award.
Feature image: Photox – Canberra Photography Services.
