Lenora Thaker’s debut novel, The Pearl of Tagai Town, received the $30,000 top prize at the Queensland Literary Awards (QLAs). The judges characterized the book as “unambiguously and distinctively Queensland,” praising its inspiration drawn from the lives of Thaker's ancestors in Cairns-Malay Town, a segregated shantytown that existed from the late 1800s until the late 1950s, housing Indigenous Australians and residents of various ethnicities, including Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Malaysian, and Sri Lankan.

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The QLA judges commended Thaker’s work for its accessibility and enjoyment, highlighting the book's “vivid sense of place” and the warm, carefully drawn characters alongside an innovative use of Ailan languages. They remarked that it brings fresh insight to a Far North Queensland community.

The awards were announced at a ceremony on Thursday evening at Brisbane Powerhouse, as part of the Brisbane Writers Festival. Claire Thomas won the $15,000 fiction category for her novel On Not Climbing Mountains, which tells the story of a woman in Switzerland grappling with grief while researching notable figures.

Micaela Sahhar’s Find Me at the Jaffa Gate: An Encyclopaedia of a Palestinian Family earned the $15,000 nonfiction prize, a work detailing her family's experiences during the Nakba in 1948. This book also won at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards earlier this year.

In the children’s book category, Zeno Sworder’s Once I Was a Giant, which narrates the tale of a tree that becomes a pencil, claimed the $15,000 award and has also won accolades at the Australian Book Industry Awards. Julianne Negri's The Belly of a Wolf took the young adult category prize, while Helena Pantsis's Mother Salad won the short story category. The poetry award of $17,500 went to Eunice Andrada for her collection KONTRA.

Sita Walker’s In a Common Hour, a novel set within a single hour at a high school, was recognized with the people’s choice award. Walker, a teacher with over 20 years of experience, has written a piece resonating with many.

The QLAs, which started in 1999, were formerly known as the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards until 2012. The awards faced challenges in management and integrity, especially following controversy surrounding the previous administration, but have since been revitalized.

2026 Queensland Literary Awards winners include:

- Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance: The Pearl of Tagai Town by Lenora Thaker

- Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection: Mother Salad by Helena Pantsis

- Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection: KONTRA by Eunice Andrada

- Children’s Book Award: Once I Was a Giant by Zeno Sworder

- Young Adult Book Award: The Belly of a Wolf by Julianne Negri

- Fiction Book Award: On Not Climbing Mountains by Claire Thomas

- Nonfiction Book Award: Find Me at the Jaffa Gate by Micaela Sahhar

- Lord Mayor’s People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award: In a Common Hour by Sita Walker.