Congratulations to UWAP authors Shey Marque and Kaya Ortiz on being shortlisted for the WA Premier's Book Awards for Poetry Book of the Year!
Shey Marque's The Hum Hearers was shortlisted for the 2023 Dorothy Hewett Award, won the 2025 Wesley Michel Wright Prize, and was shortlisted for the 2026 NSW Literary Awards.
Kaya Ortiz's Past & Parallel Lives won the 2024 Dorothy Hewett Award, was commended in the 2025 Five Islands Prize for a first book of poetry, and shortlisted for the 2026 NSW Literary Awards,
The State Library of Western Australia, who host the awards, state "Fantastical worlds, grim underbellies and stories of place and identity make up this year’s shortlist, which reflects the richness and complexity of Western Australian storytelling."
More than 30 published authors have been recognised across six categories, including past winners and finalists, recipients of national awards and new, emerging voices. The shortlisted books are available from Western Australian public libraries, booksellers and the Libby reading app, free with your State Library or public library membership. The 2026 Premier’s Book Awards winners will be announced in September and share in a prize pool of $120,000.
Congratulations to Shey and Kaya and all the shortlisted authors!
Read the full announcement here.
