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Shortlists announced for Australia’s only humour writing prize

The shortlists for the most amusing Australian books published in the past two years have just been announced by the State Library of NSW. 

Selected from a record 60 entries, the shortlisted books for the 2023 Russell Prize for Humour Writing are:  

  • Off the Charts by Georgie Carroll (Pan Macmillan Australia) 
  • You’re Doing it Wrong by Kaz Cooke (Penguin Random House Australia) 
  • My Daughter’s Wedding by Gretel Killeen (Hachette Australia)  
  • Sexy Tales of Paleontology by Patrick Lenton (Subbed In) 
  • The Speechwriter by Martin McKenzie-Murray (Scribe Publications)  
  • Here Goes Nothing by Steve Toltz (Penguin Random House Australia

The $5,000 Humour Writing for Young People Award, offered for a published work intended for readers between the ages of 5 and 12 years, attracted a record 74 entries in only its second year. 

The shortlisted books for the children’s category are:  

  • Weird School by Damian Callinan and illustrated by Adele K. Thomas (Penguin Random House Australia) 
  • Drum Roll Please, It’s Stevie Louise by Tanya Hennessy and illustrated by Leigh Hedstrom (Allen & Unwin) 
  • Your School is the BEST! by Maggie Hutchings and illustrated by Felicita Sala (Affirm Press) 
  • The House on Pleasant Street by Sofie Laguna and illustrated by Marc McBride (Allen & Unwin) 
  • Funny Kid Catastrophe by Matt Stanton (ABC Books: an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) 
  • Rita’s Revenge by Lian Tanner (Allen & Unwin) 

The winners will be announced on Thursday 11 May.

Read the media release 

about the 2023 Russell Prize for Humour Writing