The Australian/Vogel Literary Award

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award is an Australian literary award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under the age of 35. The prize money, currently A$20,000, is the richest and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript in Australia. The rules of the competition include that the winner's work be published by Allen and Unwin.^[1]

The award was initiated in 1979 by Niels Stevns^[1] and is a collaboration between The Australian newspaper, the publisher Allen & Unwin, and Stevns & Company Pty Ltd. Stevns, founder of the company which makes Vogel bread, named the award in honour of Swiss naturopath Alfred Vogel.

Winners

• 2016 – Katherine Brabon, The Memory Artist
• 2015 – Murray Middleton, When There’s Nowhere Else to Run
• 2014 – Christine Piper, After Darkness
• 2013 – No prize awarded
• 2012 – Paul D. Carter, Eleven Seasons
• 2011 – Rohan Wilson, The Roving Party
• 2009 – Kristel Thornell, Night Street and Lisa Lang, Utopian Man
• 2008 – Andrew Croome, Document Z
• 2007 – Stefan Laszczuk, I Dream of Magda
• 2006 – Belinda Castles, The River Baptists
• 2005 – Andrew O'Connor, Tuvalu
• 2004 – Julienne van Loon, Road Story
• 2003 – Nicholas Angel, Drown Them in the Sea and Ruth Balint, Troubled Waters
• 2002 – Danielle Wood, The Alphabet of Light and Dark
• 2001 – Sarah Hay, Skins and Catherine Padmore, Sibyl's Cave
• 2000 – Stephen Gray, The Artist is a Thief
• 1999 – Hsu-Ming Teo, Love and Vertigo
• 1998 – Jennifer Kremmer, Pegasus in the Suburbs
• 1997 – Eva Sallis, Hiam
• 1996 – Bernard Cohen, The Blindman's Hat
• 1995 – Richard King, Kindling Does For Firewood
• 1994 – Darren Williams, Swimming In Silk
• 1993 – Helen Demidenko, The Hand That Signed the Paper
• 1992 – Fotini Epanomitis, The Mule's Foal
• 1991 – Andrew McGahan, Praise
• 1990 – Gillian Mears, The Mint Lawn
• 1989 – Mandy Sayer, Mood Indigo
• 1988 – Tom Flood, Oceana Fine
• 1987 – Jim Sakkas, Ilias
• 1986 – Robin Walton, Glace Fruits
• 1985 – No prize awarded
• 1984 – Kate Grenville, Lilian's Story
• 1983 – Jenny Summerville, Shields Of Trell
• 1982 – Brian Castro, Birds of Passage and Nigel Krauth, Matilda, My Darling
• 1981 – Chris Matthews, Al Jazzar and Tim Winton, An Open Swimmer
• 1980 – Archie Weller, The Day Of The Dog (Weller was initially runner-up to Paul Radley, who was disqualified after admitting that his manuscript was actually written by his uncle, who was also older than 35.^[2])

Notes

1. Goodwin (1986) p. 270
2. Lists of Bests, winners of the Australian/Vogel Literary Award, website accessed 5 November 2006

References

• Goodwin, Ken (1986) A History of Australian Literature, Basingstoke, Macmillan
• The History of The Australian/Vogel Literary Award (Allen & Unwin)