The winners of the 2021 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards (PMLA) have been announced.

Selected from shortlists announced in October, the winning titles in each category are:

Fiction

• The Labyrinth (Amanda Lohrey, Text)

Poetry

• The Strangest Place: New and selected poems (Stephen Edgar, Black Pepper)

Nonfiction

• The Stranger Artist: Life at the edge of Kimberley painting (Quentin Sprague, Hardie Grant)

Australian history

• People of the River: Lost worlds of early Australia (Grace Karskens, A&U)

YA literature

• Metal Fish, Falling Snow (Cath Moore, Text)

Children’s literature (joint winners)

• Fly on the Wall (Remy Lai, Walker Books)
• How to Make a Bird (Meg McKinlay, illus by Matt Ottley, Walker Books Australia).

The winners in each category receive $80,000 and the shortlisted writers each receive $5000. All prizes are tax-free.

For more information, see the website.