Nita Kibble Literary Award

The Kibble Literary Awards comprise two awards which are presented annually: the Nita B Kibble Literary Award, which recognises the work of an established Australian female writer, and the Dobbie Literary Award, which is for a first published work by a female writer.^[1][2] The Awards recognise the works of women writers of fiction or non-fiction classified as 'life writing'. This includes novels, autobiographies, biographies, literature and any writing with a strong personal element.

The Kibble Literary Awards were established in 1994 and are named in honour of Nita Kibble (1879–1962), who was the first woman to be a librarian with the State Library of New South Wales.^[3] She was Principal Research Librarian from 1919 until her retirement in 1943, and was a founding member of the Australian Institute of Librarians.

The Kibble Awards for Women Writers were established by Nita Dobbie, through her will, in recognition of her aunt, Nita Kibble, who had raised her from birth after her mother died.^[1] Miss Dobbie followed her aunt into the library profession. She believed there was a need to foster women’s writing in the community.^[1] The awards are currently worth A$35,000 in total.

The Trust established for the award is managed by Perpetual Limited,^[4] and the award is administered in association with the State Library of New South Wales.^[5]

Winners of the Nita B Kibble Literary Award for Women Writers

• 2016 - Small Acts of Disappearance, Fiona Wright
• 2015 - The Golden Age, Joan London
• 2014 - Boy Lost: A Family Memoir, Kristina Olsson
• 2013 - The Beloved, Annah Faulkner
• 2012 - Five Bells, Gail Jones
• 2011 - Reading by Moonlight, Brenda Walker
• 2010 - The Ghost at the Wedding, Shirley Walker
• 2009 - An Exacting Heart: The Story of Hephzibah Menuhin, Jacqueline Kent
• 2008 - Nights in the Asylum, Carol Lefevre
• 2007 - Careless, Deborah Robertson
• 2006 - The Wing of Night, Brenda Walker
• 2005 - Plenty, Gay Bilson
• 2004 - That Oceanic Feeling, Fiona Capp
• 2003 - Black Mirror, Gail Jones
• 2002 - A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, A Literary Life, Jacqueline Kent
• 2001 - Tiger's Eye: A Memoir, Inga Clendinnen
• 2000 - Stravinsky's Lunch, Drusilla Modjeska
• 1999 - Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey From Down Under to All Over, Geraldine Brooks
• 1998 - Snake Cradle, Roberta Sykes
• 1997 - True Stories: Selected Non-Fiction, Helen Garner
• 1996 - Judy Cassab: Diaries, Judy Cassab
• 1995 - The Orchard, Drusilla Modjeska
• 1994 - Lovers' Knots: A Hundred-Year Novel, Marion Halligan

Winners of the Dobbie Literary Award

• 2016 - Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar
• 2015 - Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven
• 2014 - Madness: A Memoir by Kate Richards
• 2013 - Toyo: A Memoir, Lily Chan
• 2012 – Past The Shallows, Favel Parrett
• 2011 – Night Street, Kristel Thornell
• 2010 – The Book of Emmett, Deborah Forster
• 2009 – Fugitive Blue, Claire Thomas
• 2008 – The Anatomy of Wings, Karen Foxlee
• 2007 – Swallow the Air, Tara June Winch
• 2006 – Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, Carrie Tiffany
• 2005 – The Secret World of Annette Robinson, [ Paulette Gittins ]
• 2004 – The Alphabet of Light and Dark, Danielle Wood
• 2000 – Off the Rails: The Pauline Hanson Trip, Margo Kingston
• 1999 – Hiam, Eva Sallis
• 1998 - Steam Pigs, Melissa Lucashenko ^[6]
• 1997 – Listening for Small Sounds, Pepe Trevor
• 1996 – My Own Sweet Time, Leon Carmen (under the pseudonym Wanda Koolmatrie)^[7]

Shortlisted works for the Nita B Kibble Literary Award

Winners are listed in bold type.

2014

• Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir - Kristina Olsson (University of Queensland Press)
• Letter to George Clooney - Debra Adelaide (Picador Australia)
• Mullumbimby - Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)

2013

• The Beloved, Annah Faulkner (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Questions of Travel, Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin)
• Like a House on Fire, Cate Kennedy (Scribe)

2012

• Five Bells, Gail Jones
• Foal's Bread, Gillian Mears
• Animal People, Charlotte Wood

2011

• Sydney, Delia Falconer
• Barbara Hanrahan:A Biography, Annette Stewart
• Reading by Moonlight, Brenda Walker

2010

• The Real Possibility of Joy, Josephine Emery
• The China Garden, Kristina Olsson
• The Ghost at the Wedding, Shirley Walker

2009^[8]

• Births Deaths and Marriages: True tales, Georgia Blain
• An Exacting Heart: The story of Hephzibah Menuhin, Jacqueline Kent
• The After Life: A memoir, Kathleen Stewart

2008

• Sorry, Gail Jones
• Burning In, Mireille Juchau
• Nights in the Asylum, Carol Lefevre

2007

• Agamemnon's Kiss, Inga Clendinnen
• Captain Starlight's Apprentice, Kathryn Heyman
• Dreams of Speaking, Gail Jones
• Ida Leeson: A Life, Sylvia Martin
• Careless, Deborah Robertson

2006

• The Secret River, Kate Grenville
• The Butterfly Man, Heather Rose
• The Wing of Night, Brenda Walker

2005

• Plenty, Gay Bilson
• Joe Cinque's Consolation, Helen Garner
• The Broken Book, Susan Johnson

2004

• Shot, Gail Bell
• The End of Equality, Anne Summers
• That Oceanic Feeling, Fiona Capp

2003

• Black Mirror, Gail Jones
• The Truth About My Fathers, Gaby Naher
• The Boyds: A Family Biography, Brenda Niall

2002

• The Fog Garden, Marion Halligan
• A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, A Literary Life, Jacqueline Kent
• Other People's Words, Hilary McPhee

2001

• Tiger's Eye: A Memoir, Inga Clendinnen
• Journey from Venice, Ruth Cracknell

2000

• Stravinsky's Lunch, Drusilla Modjeska
• Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop, Amy Witting

1999

• Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey From Down Under to All Over, Geraldine Brooks

1998

• Glass After Glass: Autobiographical Reflections, Barbara Blackman
• Snake Cradle, Roberta Sykes
• Paradise Mislaid: In Search of the Australian Tribe of Paraguay, Anne Whitehead

1997

• Night Surfing, Fiona Capp
• The Service of Clouds, Delia Falconer
• True Stories: Selected Non-Fiction, Helen Garner

1996

• Judy Cassab: Diaries, Judy Cassab
• Caravanserai: Journey among Australian Muslims, Hanifa Deen

1995^[9]

• Auntie Rita, Rita Cynthia Huggins and Jackie Huggins
• The World Waiting to be Made, Simone Lazaroo
• The Orchard, Drusilla Modjeska
• Georgiana, Brenda Niall
• Heddy and me, Susan Varga

1994

• Lovers' Knots: A Hundred-Year Novel, Marion Halligan

See also

• Australian History Awards
• Australian literature
• List of Australian literary awards
• List of literary awards
• National Biography Award

References