Category specific guidelines

Fiction Book Award - $25,000

• This prize is offered to the author of a fiction book published between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and five (5) copies of the relevant works.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Emerging Queensland Author - Manuscript Award - $20,000

• This prize is offered to an unpublished author for a collection of short stories, a novella, a novel or any other form of non-fiction.
• Authors must be residents in Queensland for a period of five (5) years up to and including the date of entry.
• An unpublished author is defined as an author without commercial publication of a manuscript by a trade publisher or other conventional publisher.
  Manuscripts that have been successfully self-published (more than 500 copies sold) are ineligible.
• In addition to the prize money of $20,000, a publishing contract with the University of Queensland Press will be offered to the winning author for the winning manuscript to be published in the following year.
• Manuscripts must be a minimum of 40,000 words and maximum of 100, 000 words.
• Five (5) copies are to be forwarded to the Awards Coordinator in the following format:
• Title page listing author name, name of manuscript and literary category.
• Manuscripts must be typed or word processed on A4 paper, one side only.
• Preferably plain font, 12 point, one and a half line spaced with a minimum two (2) centimetre margin.
• Pages must be numbered.
• Manuscripts should be submitted in a loose-leaf format (no stapling or binding).
• Any shortlisted authors will be required to sign a statutory declaration form stating that the work is entirely their own and that they have never been published or signed under a publishing contract.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and five (5) copies of the manuscript.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Unpublished Indigenous Writer - The David Unaipon Award - $15,000

David Unaipon was the first Indigenous Australian author of a major book.  He was also an early Aboriginal political activist, a scientist, a preacher and an inventor. David Unaipon was born in Port McLeay in South Australia and is commemorated on the $50 note.

• This prize is offered to an unpublished Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander writer and is judged by a panel of established Indigenous authors and a representative from the University of Queensland Press.
• The author of the winning manuscript is mentored and the work published by the University of Queensland Press.
• Please refer to the Unpublished Indigenous Writer - 2008 Literary Awards David Unaipon Entry Form and conditions of entry.

Non-Fiction Book Award - $15,000

• This prize is offered to the author of a non-fiction book published between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008.
• Entries to this category may consist of biographies and memoirs but are not restricted to these.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and five (5) copies of the relevant work.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

History Book - Faculty of Arts, University of Queensland Award - $15,000

• This prize is offered to the author of a history book published between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and five (5) copies of the relevant title.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Children's Book - Mary Ryan's Award - $15,000

• This prize is offered to the author of a children's book published between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008.
• The book should be aimed at young readers between the ages of 6 to 11 years.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and four (4) copies of the relevant work.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Young Adult Book Award - $15,000

• This prize is offered to the author of a young adult book published between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008.
• The book should be aimed at young readers between the ages of 12 to 16 years.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and four (4) copies of the relevant work.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Science Writer Award - $15,000 

• This prize is offered to the author of either print or electronic media published between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008 that promotes and explains the benefits of science to the wider community, including the role science plays in improving society's health, well-being and culture.
• Entries can include a book, television or radio feature/script, feature article or series published in a newspaper, journal, magazine or online.
• Academic pieces such as edited compendiums, autobiographies and collections of lectures are ineligible.
• In addition, a 150-200 word summary is required explaining why the author feels the entered work promotes the role that science plays in improving the health, well-being and culture of society.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and four (4) copies of the relevant title.  Electronic entries should include a DVD and four (4) copies of the transcript.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Poetry Collection - Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award - $15,000

Although best remembered as one of Australia's most loved poets, Judith Wright is also remembered for her early ongoing and passionate commitment to Australia's environmental and Indigenous issues.  The Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts in Brisbane, named after the famous poet, is a testament to her contribution to the arts, not only in Queensland but throughout Australia.

• This prize is offered to the author of a collection of poetry published between 1 January 2007 and 23 May 2008.
• Entries will be ineligible if a significant portion of the book has previously been published in book form in Australia.
• The book must be an original collection of poetry written by one author.  Anthologies or multi-author collections are ineligible.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and three (3) copies of the relevant title.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Australian Short Story Collection - Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Award - $15,000

Steele Rudd was born Arthur Hoey Davis in Drayton, Queensland, in 1868. Davis wrote 24 books and six plays, and saw three silent and four sound-film adaptations of his work. Steele Rudd is most fondly remembered as the author of 'On Our Selection' and the creator of the immortal characters Dad and Dave.

• This prize is awarded to the author of a collection of short stories published between 1 January 2007 and 23 May 2008.
• Entries will be ineligible if a significant portion of the book has previously been published in book form in Australia.
• The book must be an original collection of short stories written by one author.  Anthologies or multi-author collections are ineligible.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and four (4) copies of the relevant work.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Literary or Media Work Advancing Public Debate - The Harry Williams Award - $15,000

Harry Williams, a former ABC TV journalist, followed in the footsteps of his grandfather who also was a journalist.  His career began in newspapers with 'Truth in Brisbane' and he worked for the Nambour Chronicle, The Cairns Post and the Maryborough Chronicle before moving to ABC television in Rockhampton.  Harry Williams is best remembered as a scrupulously honest and determined journalist who spent 28 years working with the ABC in Queensland.

• This prize is offered to the author of either print or electronic media work published between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008.
• Entries can include a book, television or radio feature/script, feature article or series published in a newspaper, journal, magazine or online.
• Academic pieces such as edited compendiums, autobiographies and collections of lectures are ineligible.
• In addition, a 150-200 word summary is required explaining why the author feels the entered work advances public debate.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and four (4) copies of the relevant work. Electronic entries should include a DVD and four (4) copies of the transcript.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Film Script - Pacific Film & Television Commission Award - $15,000

• This prize is offered to the author of a film script.  Eligible scripts must have been produced with principal photography beginning between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008. It is not necessary that the production should have publicly screened during this time.
• Scripts may be entered by writers, their agents, film distributors or production companies.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and four (4) copies of the relevant script.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Television Script - QUT Creative Industries Award - $15,000

• This prize is offered to the author of a television script.  Eligible scripts must have been produced with principal photography beginning between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008. It is not necessary that the production should have publicly screened during this time.
• Scripts may be entered by writers, their agents, film distributors or production companies.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and four (4) copies of the relevant script.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.

Drama Script (Stage) Award - $15,000

• This prize is offered to the author of a script for a drama production.  Scripts produced in a professional, profit share or significant community or cultural development context are eligible.
• The script must have had its first public performance between 26 May 2007 and 23 May 2008.
• Scripts may be entered by writers, agents, theatre companies or production companies.
• Entries must include a complete entry form and four (4) copies of the relevant script.
• Please also refer to the conditions of entry.