Western Australian author Mabel Gibson took home both the Book of the Year and Emerging Writer of the Year trophies at the recently held WA Premier’s Book Awards.
Selected from this year’s category winners, CryBaby the 27-year-old Yamatji writer’s debut micro memoir, was praised by judges for its humour, vulnerability and distinctive literary voice.
Described by the judging panel as “heartbreaking and sumptuous”, the book stood apart for its disarming simplicity and what judges called sentence-level perfection.
The evening celebrated the achievements of two Yamatji women. Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green Smith was inducted into the Western Australian Writers Hall of Fame, while the poetry category was renamed in honour of the late poet, writer and community leader.
Gibson’s micro-memoir is a collection of 56 dreamy, fragmented moments spanning her life from the age of two through to twenty-five. Together, they tell the story of a young First Nations woman who, despite personal challenges and grief, finds her voice and strength as a writer.
Speaking about Gibson’s debut work, the judges said: “The distinctive voice is original, polished and consistently maintained. Emotionally resonant and engaging, the work balances humour and vulnerability effectively. For sensitive, turbulent people of all ages, everywhere.”
Children’s Book of the Year was awarded to Creature Clinic by Gavin Aung Than, while Young Adult Book of the Year went to A Murder Is Going Down by Kate Emery.
Fiction Book of the Year was awarded to O’Keefe by David Whish-Wilson, and the newly renamed Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green Smith Poetry Prize went to Past & Parallel Lives by Kaya Ortiz.
Tjukurrpa Kurranyu, Tjukurrpa in the Front: The Yarnangu Foundation for Joint Management in the Pila Nature Reserve by Jan Turner and Dr Lizzie Marrkilyi Giles Ellis won the Non-Fiction Book of the Year category, while the Daisy Utemorrah Award for an unpublished manuscript went to Barefoot Running by Amanda Lott.
