# Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing

The Victorian Premier's Prize for Indigenous Writing is a prize category in the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award. The award commenced in 2004 and in 2012 the prize was valued at A$20,000. The winner of this category prize competes with the other category winners for overall Victorian Prize for Literature valued at an additional A$100,000. Nominees are allowed to enter other categories of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards.
In 2004 Vivienne Cleven was the inaugural winner. The prize value was increased to A$25,000 in 2016.

## Winners and shortlists

Winners of the Overall Victorian Prize for Literature have a blue ribbon.
Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing winners and finalists :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 2004 | Vivienne Cleven | Her Sister's Eye | Winner |
| 2004 | Larissa Behrendt | Home | Finalist |
| 2004 | Dennis McDermott | Dorothy's Skin | Finalist |
| 2006 | Tara June Winch | Swallow the Air | Winner |
| 2006 | Fabienne Bayet | Watershed | Finalist |
| 2006 | Jared Thomas | Sweet Guy | Finalist |
| 2006 | Noel C. Tovey | Little Black Bastard: A Story of Survival | Finalist |
| 2008 | Yvette Holt | Anonymous Premonition | Winner |
| 2008 | Gayle Kennedy | Me, Antman and Fleabag | Finalist |
| 2008 | John Maynard | Fight for Liberty and Freedom: The Origins of Australian Aboriginal Activism | Finalist |
| 2010 | Larissa Behrendt | Legacy | Winner |
| 2010 | Kate Howarth | Ten Hail Marys: A Memoir | Finalist |
| 2010 | Lorraine McGee-Sippel | Hey Mum, What's a Half-Caste? | Finalist |
| 2012 | Anita Heiss | Am I Black Enough For You? | Winner |
| 2012 | Jeanine Leane | Purple Threads | Finalist |
| 2012 | Nicole Watson | The Boundary | Finalist |
| 2014 | Melissa Lucashenko | Mullumbimby | Winner |
| 2014 | Tony Birch | The Promise | Finalist |
| 2014 | Lionel Fogarty | Mogwie-Idan: Stories of the Land | Finalist |
| 2014 | Bruce Pascoe | Dark Emu | Finalist |
| 2014 | Jared Thomas | Calypso Summer | Finalist |
| 2014 | Alexis Wright | The Swan Book | Finalist |
| 2016 | Tony Birch | Ghost River | Winner |
| 2016 | Ali Cobby Eckermann | Inside My Mother | Finalist |
| 2016 | Ellen van Neerven | Heat and Light | Finalist |
| 2019 | Kim Scott | Taboo | Winner |
| 2019 | Tony Birch | Common People | Finalist |
| 2019 | Melissa Lucashenko | Too Much Lip | Finalist |
| 2019 | Alison Whittaker | Blakwork | Finalist |
| 2021 | Archie Roach | Tell Me Why: The story of my life and my music | Winner |
| 2021 | Kirli Saunders | Kindred | Finalist |
| 2021 | Nardi Simpson | Song of the Crocodile | Finalist |
| 2021 | Karen Wyld | Where the Fruit Falls | Finalist |
| 2022 | Veronica Gorrie | Black and Blue: A memoir of racism and resilience | Winner |
| 2022 | Evelyn Araluen | Dropbear | Finalist |
| 2022 | Gary Lonesborough | The Boy from the Mish | Finalist |
| 2022 | S. J. Norman | Permafrost | Finalist |
| 2022 | Elfie Shiosaki | Homecoming | Finalist |
| 2022 | Chelsea Watego | Another Day in the Colony | Finalist |
| 2023 | Lystra Rose | The Upwelling | Winner |
| 2023 | Lionel Fogarty | Harvest Lingo | Finalist |
| 2023 | Karlie Noon and Krystal De Napoli | Astronomy | Finalist |
| 2023 | Amy Thunig | Tell Me Again | Finalist |
| 2024 | Daniel Browning | Close to the Subject: Selected works | Finalist |
| 2024 | John Morrissey | Firelight | Finalist |
| 2024 | Ellen van Neerven | Personal Score: Sport, culture, identity | Finalist |
| 2025 | Kirli Saunders | Afloat | Finalist |
| 2025 | Amy McQuire | Black Witness | Finalist |
| 2025 | Gary Lonesborough | I'm Not Really Here | Finalist |
| 2025 | Elfie Shiosaki | Refugia | Finalist |