Write where it belongs – literary awards move to writers festival
After its shock ejection from the State Library, Queensland Literary Awards has found a new home with Brisbane Writers Festival.
It makes perfect sense – Brisbane Writers Festival will take over running the 2026 Queensland Literary Awards, formerly administered by the State Library of Queensland.
The decision follows something of a debacle in an era when writers’ festivals and freedom of speech are under pressure. Last year Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek directed the library to rescind a $15,000 black&write! fellowship awarded to First Nations writer K.A. Ren Wyld, citing their social media commentary on the Israel-Palestine conflict as “glorifying terrorism”.
That drama led to a subsequent review by former Supreme Court judge Martin Daubney KC, who found that the library’s core functions, as defined by the Libraries Act 1988, do not naturally encompass running competitive, politically charged literary prizes.
A number of QLA judges resigned from the awards in 2025 in protest over the minister’s direct intervention. It was another chapter of political volatility for the Queensland Literary Awards, which were previously abolished in 2012 by the then-LNP government before being revived.
The LNP, under the leadership of David Crisafulli, reaffirmed its position that state-owned buildings would not be a platform for views deemed to be “hate speech”. What about Brisbane City Council-owned buildings like Brisbane Powerhouse, home to BWF and now QLA? Fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, Brisbane Writers Festival artistic director Jackie Ryan says her organisation is honoured to be entrusted with custodianship of the awards and grateful to its previous custodians.
“Brisbane Writers Festival will seek to further elevate the profile of the Queensland Literary Awards, as well as shortlisted and winning authors, by incorporating the ceremony into the broader festival program – and by platforming shortlisted books at the festival bookshop,” Ryan says. “In turn, the awards will provide the festival with the drawcard of a major industry event, incentivising additional people to make the trip or to extend their stay and supercharging the festival’s networking opportunities.”
Prize money, timelines, judging protocols and entry conditions will be similar to previous years.
The 2026 Queensland Literary Awards will open for entries at noon on March 31. Categories will stay the same with a few exceptions: BWF will be reintroducing, on a biennial basis, the Steele Rudd Award for Best Short Story Collection.
The Queensland Premier’s Young Writers and Publishers Awards (formerly two awards in this category) are being split into two categories: the Queensland Premier’s Young Writers and Publishers Award and the Queensland Premier’s Emerging Regional Writers and Publishers Award (one award in each category).
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Queensland Writers Fellowships are no longer part of QLA and will return to Arts Queensland.
The 2026 Queensland Literary Awards will open for entries at noon on March 31. Winners of the 2026 Queensland Literary Awards will be announced at Brisbane Writers Festival at Brisbane Powerhouse on October 8.
For more information, visit the BWF website or follow QLA on its new Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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