Calibre Prize

The Calibre Essay Prize is an annual Australian Book Review essay-writing award. The prize, first awarded in 2007, is worth AU$7,500 and is deemed 'the nation's premier essay-writing competition'[1] and 'Australia's leading award for an original essay'.[2]

The prize is 'intended to generate brilliant new essays and to foster new insights into culture, society, and the human condition'[3] and welcomes entries from published authors and commentators, as well as from emerging writers. All non-fiction subjects are eligible for submission.

History

The Prize was established in 2007. It is presented annually by the ABR and 'awards the most outstanding original essay contributed by a leading Australian author or commentator'.[4] The Prize was previously co-funded by the Australian Copyright Agency. It is currently supported by Colin Golvan QC.

Winners

• 2007 – Elisabeth Elisabeth Holdsworth: "An die Nachgenborenen: For Those Who Come After"[5]
• 2008 – Rachel Robertson: "Reaching One Thousand"[6] and Mark Tredinnick: "A Storm and a Teacup"[7]
• 2009 – Kevin Brophy: "What're yer looking at yer fuckin' dog: Violence and Fear in Žižek's Post-political Neighbourhood"[8] and Jane Goodall: "Footprints"[9]
• 2010 – Lorna Hallahan: "On Being Odd"[10] and David Hansen: "Seeing Truganini"[11]
• 2011 – Dean Biron: "The Death of the Writer"[12] and Moira McKinnon: "Who Killed Matilda?"[13]
• 2012 – Matt Rubinstein: "Body and Soul: Copyright and Law Enforcement in the Age of the Electronic Book"[14]
• 2013 – Martin Thomas: "Because it's your country: Bringing Back the Bones to West Arnhem Land"[15]
• 2014 – Christine Piper: "Unearthing the past"[16]
• 2015 – Sophie Cunningham: "Staying with the trouble"[17]
• 2016 – Michael Winkler: "The Great Red Whale"[18]
• 2017 – Michael Adams: "Salt Blood"[19]
• 2018 – Lucas Grainger-Brown: "We Three Hundred"[20]
• 2019 – Grace Karskens: "Nah Doongh's Song"[21]
• 2020 – Yves Rees: "Reading the Mess Backwards"[22]
• 2021 – Theodore Ell: "Façades of Lebanon"[23]
• 2022 – Simon Tedeschi: "This Woman My Grandmother"[24]
• 2023 – Tracy Ellis: "Flow States"[25]
• 2024 – Tracey Slaughter: "why your hair is long & your stories short"[26]

References

1. "News". sydney.edu.au.
2. "Announcing the winner of Australia's premier essay prize" (PDF). Australian Book Review. 1 April 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2022.
3. "Calibre Prize 2015". australianbookreview.com.au. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
4. "News". sydney.edu.au.
5. ""An die Nachgenborenen: For Those Who Come After"" (PDF). Australian Book Review, February 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
6. ""Reaching One Thousand"" (PDF). Australian Book Review, February 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
7. ""A Storm and a Teacup"" (PDF). Australian Book Review, February 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
8. ""What're yer looking at yer fuckin' dog: Violence and Fear in Žižek's Post-political Neighbourhood"" (PDF). Australian Book Review, April 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
9. ""Footprints"" (PDF). Australian Book Review, April 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
10. ""On Being Odd"" (PDF). Australian Book Review, May 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
11. ""Seeing Truganini"" (PDF). Australian Book Review, May 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
12. ""2011 Calibre Prize (Winner): The Death of the Writer"". Australian Book Review, May 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
13. ""Who Killed Matilda?"". Australian Book Review, July-August 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
14. ""Body and Soul: Copyright and Law Enforcement in the Age of the Electronic Book"". Australian Book Review, September 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
15. ""Because it's your country: Bringing Back the Bones to West Arnhem Land"". Australian Book Review, April 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
16. ""2014 Calibre Prize (Winner): Unearthing the Past by Christine Piper"". Australian Book Review, April 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
17. ""Staying with the trouble by Sophie Cunningham"". Australian Book Review, May 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
18. Winkler, Michael (23 May 2016). "2016 Calibre Essay Prize (Winner): 'The Great Red Whale'". Australian Book Review. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
19. "Adams win 'ABR' Calibre Essay prize". Books+Publishing. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
20. "The Calibre Prize". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
21. "Karskens wins 'ABR' 2019 Calibre Prize". Books+Publishing. 5 June 2019. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
22. "Yves Rees wins 2020 Calibre Essay Prize". Books+Publishing. 2 June 2020. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
23. "Ell wins 2021 Calibre Essay Prize". Books+Publishing. 30 June 2021. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
24. "Tedeschi wins 2022 Calibre Essay Prize". Books+Publishing. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
25. Ellis, Tracy (24 April 2023). "2023 Calibre Essay Prize (Winner) | 'Flow States' by Tracy Ellis". Australian Book Review. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
26. "Slaughter wins 2024 Calibre Essay Prize". Books+Publishing. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.