Book Industry celebrated at 2022 ABIAs
June 27, 2022
Diana Reid ‘s Love and Virtue (Ultimo Press) has won Book of the Year at the 2022 Australian Book Industry Awards, held on Thursday 9 June at the ICC Sydney.The prestigious award was this year presented by Lisa Wilkinson.
As a proud partner of the ABIA Awards once again this year, Copyright Agency was honoured to sponsor the award for General Non-Fiction Book of the Year, awarded to Victoria Devine for She’s on the Money (Penguin Random House); the #1 Finance bestseller book spawned from the ever-successful podcast of the same name.
Those who attended the awards in person were treated to a musical performance to open the awards, and were entertained by the star of Moulin Rouge: The Musical, Alinta Chizdey as their MC.
In addition, a star-studded line-up of special guests, both in person and via broadcast were on offer, The Wiggles, Evelyn Araluen, Peter Fitzsimmons, to mention a few.
The ABIA awards, held by the Australian Publishers Association in its seventh year celebrated the‘Joy of Books’, and ‘Hall of Fame’ awards were presented on the night to commemorate long-time contributors to the book industry.
Author Libby Hathorn at the 2022 ABIAs.
The prolific Libby Hathorn was bestowed the honourable Pixie O’ Harris Award, which “Recognises creators and other industry representatives who have worked consistently in the field of children’s literature, demonstrated commitment beyond the call of duty, and who have developed a reputation for their contribution.” The award was presented to her by cultural icon Wendy Whiteley.
Sandy Grant co-founder and CEO of Hardy Grant Publishing took out the Lloyd O’Neil Award for outstanding service to the Australian Book Industry.
Somebody’s Land, by former AFL footballer and children’s author Adam Goodes, illustrated by Ellie Laing took out Children’s Book of the Year, and Corey Tutt’s ‘Deadly Science’ received Book of the Year for Younger Children.
Other big winners included ‘Drop Bear’ by Evelyn Araluen (Small Publisher’s Adult Book of the Year) and ‘My Adventurous Life’ by Australian icon Dick Smith (Biography Book of the Year). International Book of the Year went to Dave Grohl, much loved rock star for his memoir ‘The Storyteller’.
The longlist was voted for by the ABIA Academy, a group of publishers, booksellers, agents, media, and industry representatives, while the shortlist and winners were chosen by nominated judging panels of industry experts.
See the full list of winners on the ABIA website, or rewatch the event broadcast on YouTube.