We’re delighted to announce the winners of the 2024 Barbara Jefferis Award: Sara M Saleh for Songs for the Dead and the Living and Lucy Treloar for Days of Innocence and Wonder. 

This year two winners were selected to share the $50,000 prize, which has happened only once before in the award’s history.  Hannah Kent, Chair of the judging panel, says, “Both novels are exemplary, both fulfilled the criteria of the award to equal measure, and both are, in our minds, deeply worthy of winning. Whilst vastly different in scope and subject, both depict women and girls in such a way as to empower their status in our society. Each centres a female protagonist and celebrates their extraordinary resilience and strength – although under very different circumstances. They both also argue for the reclamation of identity and autonomy in the face of loss. Each of the winning titles are vividly and beautifully written, deeply moving, and demonstrate their authors’ creative reach and mastery. The decision to divide the Award between them was agreed upon unanimously amongst the judges as the only just and feasible choice when faced with such literary riches.”

Sara M Saleh says, “It is a privilege to have published this novel in a world that so often seeks to silence us, correct us, erase us; a joy to have publishers in Affirm Press who tended to it so uncompromisingly, and to have readers who resonate deeply with it; and a rare gift to be recognised by such esteemed authors and mentors—custodians and disrupters of our literary traditions, and to have the Australian Society of Authors steward such critical recognition…My gratitude is boundless.” 

Lucy Treloar also expressed her gratitude, saying, “In a world in which women’s rights are under increasing threat, a prize that centres women and girls and their many drives, ambitions, and life experiences is cause for celebration. So I am grateful to be among these extraordinary writers and these stunning books. I am grateful.”

ASA CEO, Lucy Hayward says, “Our heartfelt congratulations to Sara M Saleh and Lucy Treloar! Both their novels are extraordinary in their exploration of agency and resilience in the face of violence and loss. It is a privilege for us to administer this Award every two years and to encounter the wealth of literary talent in Australia through the lens of feminist representations of women. As always, we are so grateful for John Hinde’s bequest to commemorate his wife, Barbara Jefferis, which allows us to recognise these authors in this way.”

The winners were announced at the 2024 Colin Simpson Memorial Keynote in Sydney on 13 November 2024.  

Hannah Kent was joined on the judging panel by bestselling authors Jennifer Mills and Melanie Saward. 

The 2024 shortlist included:

• Salonika Burning by Gail Jones (Text Publishing)
• Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)
• Sunbirds by Mirandi Riwoe (University of Queensland Press)
• Songs for the Dead and Living by Sara M Saleh (Affirm Press)
• Days of Innocence and Wonder by Lucy Treloar (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (Allen & Unwin)