Nevermoor by first-time novelist Jessica Townsend wins Book of the Year at Australian Book Industry Awards
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Queensland writer Jessica Townsend has continued her saga of success, taking three major gongs at the Australian Book Industry Awards for her debut novel Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Hachette Australia).
At a ceremony in Sydney, 33-year-old Townsend took out the Gold ABIA for the Book of the Year, along with the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year and Book of the Year for Younger Readers.
It follows her top gong at the Australian Independent Booksellers Awards in March, international publishing deals, and a movie in the works with 20th Century Fox.
Speaking to the ABC from London in April, Townsend said: "It feels as if I'm living the dream and living in a dream. It's been a really strange year-and-a-half … and it just kind of keeps coming."
The book, which took Townsend 10 years to complete, follows a young girl who grows up knowing she is cursed to die on Eventide, but gets a second chance when a stranger whisks her away to a magical world called Nevermoor, where she must complete a set of challenges in order to escape her fate.
It's conceived as part of a nine-book series, aimed at middle grade readers (ages 8 to 12, approximately).
Growing up on the Sunshine Coast, Townsend caught the reading bug from her older sister at the age of 4, and was hooked.
"I was that bookish kid who aggravated my mum a bit because I would get out of the car in the morning with my nose in a book, and would be crossing the road to school with my nose still in it," she said.
The ABIAs are voted by an academy of more than 250 figures from the publishing industry. While the awards don't have money attached, they're a bit like the Oscars: they offer a snapshot of the industry — and they push sales.
It was a good year for Hachette Australia: Michael Robotham took General Fiction Book of the Year for his psychological thriller The Secrets She Keeps, and Melbourne writer Sarah Schmidt took Literary Fiction of the Year for her debut novel See What I Have Done, which re-imagines the Lizzie Borden murders.
Non-fiction gongs went to Sarah Krasnostein for her searing memoir The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster (Text Publishing); and Jimmy Barnes (for the second year in a row) for the second volume of his memoirs, Working Class Man (Harper Collins).
Full awards list
Gold ABIA for Book of the Year
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, Jessica Townsend (Lothian Children's Books, Hachette Australia)
Biography Book of the Year
Working Class Man, Jimmy Barnes (Harper Collins Publishers)
General Fiction Book of the Year
The Secrets She Keeps, Michael Robotham (Hachette, Hachette Australia)
General Non-fiction Book of the Year
The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster, Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing)
Literary Fiction Book of the Year
See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt (Hachette, Hachette Australia)
Illustrated Book of the Year
Maggie's Recipe for Life, Maggie Beer and Professor Ralph Martins (A Julie Gibbs Book for Simon & Schuster Australia)
International Book of the Year
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo (Particular Books, Penguin Random House Australia)
Small Publishers' Adult Book of the Year
The Australian Bird Guide, Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack and Kim Franklin (CSIRO Publishing)
Small Publishers' Children's Book of the Year
It's OK to Feel the Way You Do, Josh Langley (Big Sky Publishing)
The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year
Nevermoor, Jessica Townsend (Lothian Children's Books, Hachette Australia)
Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)
Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, Amie Kaufman, Melissa Keil, Will Kostakis, Ellie Marney, Jaclyn Moriarty, Michael Pryor, Alice Pung, Gabrielle Tozer, Lili Wilkinson and Danielle Binks (Harper Collins Publishers)
Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-13)
Nevermoor, Jessica Townsend (Lothian Children's Books, Hachette Australia)
Children's Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)
No One Likes a Fart, Zoe Foster Blake (Viking, Penguin Random House Australia)
Audiobook of the Year
The 91-Storey Treehouse, Written & Illustrated by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton. Narrated by Stig Wemyss (Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd)
The Lloyd O'Neill Award for Services to the Australian Book Industry
Suzy Wilson
The Pixie O'Harris Award for Outstanding Commitment to Children's Literature
Jane Covernton
Publisher of the Year
Harper Collins Publishers
Small Publisher of the Year
Thames & Hudson Australia
National Retailer
Dymocks
Independent Retailer
Readings
Rising Star of the Year
Shalini Kunahlan (Marketing Manager, Text Publishing)
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, books-literature, australia, qld
