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The Barbara Jefferis Award is an Australian literary award prize. The award was created in 2007 after being endowed by John Hinde upon his death to commemorate his late wife, author Barbara Jefferis. It is funded by his $1 million bequest. Originally an annual award, it has been awarded biennially since 2012.

Jefferis was an Australian writer, and a founding member and first female president of the Australian Society of Authors. She died in 2004.^[1] Australian author, Thomas Keneally, described Jefferis as "a rare being amongst authors, being both a fine writer but also organisationally gifted".^[2]

The award, which comprises $50,000 for the winner with $5,000 distributed amongst the shortlist, is one of Australia's richest literary prizes. It is awarded to "the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society".^[2] The novel can be in any genre and does not have to be set in Australia.^[1] The award does not specify the author's gender. It is administered by the Australian Society of Authors and is expected to rival the Miles Franklin Award ($42,000) and the biennial Tasmania Pacific Fiction Prize ($40,000).^[1]

The prize was first awarded in 2008 to Rhyll McMaster for Feather Man (Brandl & Schlesinger).

Controversy

The announcement of the award caused a minor controversy in Australian literary circles due to its target. Susan Wyndham, journalist and literary editor, best summarises the issue in the questions opening her article in The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: "Does Australia need a new fiction award that encourages 'positive' portrayals of women and girls? Or is it an outdated gesture in a post-feminist culture rich with female authors, characters and readers?"^[1]

Wyndham reports Rosalind Hinde, daughter of John Hinde and Barbara Jefferis, as saying that her father had "the very clear and strong intention to honour my mother's writing, her feminism and her devotion to other writers".^[1] Several writers have supported the award, including Tom Keneally, Helen Garner, Frank Moorhouse, Gerald Murnane, Anne Deveson, Kerryn Goldsworthy and Brian Castro. However, writer and critic, Andrew Reimer dislikes the idea of focusing on "social agenda" over "novelist's skill and imagination", and novelist Emily McGuire agreed, stating that she doesn't "like the idea of judging fiction based on its message".^[1] Author and critic, Debra Adelaide, expressed her concern that the award might encourage "safe and constrained" writing and wondered whether "we are getting to the point where we have more awards than publishing opportunities".^[1]

Winners

Each year's winners and shortlists, along with the past winners, are listed on the relevant Australian Society of Authors page.^[3]

2008 – Feather Man, Rhyll McMaster
2009 – The Spare Room, Helen Garner
2010 – The China Garden, Kristina Olsson
2011 – Come Inside, G. L. Osborne
2012 – All That I Am, Anna Funder^[4]
2013 – not awarded. The 2014 award was for 2013/2014
2014 – Sea Hearts, Margo Lanagan (joint winner)
2014 – The Night Guest, Fiona McFarlane (joint winner)
2016 – Hope Farm, Peggy Frew
2018 – The Trapeze Act, Libby Angel
2020 – Wolfe Island, Lucy Treloar
2022 – Revenge: Murder in Three Parts, S. L. Lim
2024 – Songs for the Dead and the Living, Sara M Saleh (joint winner)
2024 – Days of Innocence and Wonder, Lucy Treloar (joint winner)

Shortlisted works

Winners are listed in bold type.

Year	Title	Author	Publisher	References
2008	Feather Man	Rhyll McMaster	Brandl & Schlesinger	^[5]
	The Anatomy of Wings	Karen Foxlee	University of Queensland Press
	Burning In	Mireille Juchau	Giramondo
	The Gospel of Gods and Crocodiles	Elizabeth Stead	University of Queensland Press
	The Lost Dog	Michelle de Kretser	Allen & Unwin
	Seamstress	Geraldine Wooller	University of Western Australia Press
2009	The Spare Room	Helen Garner	Text	^[6]^[5]
	Addition	Toni Jordan	Text
	The Last Sky	Alice Nelson	Fremantle Press
	The Lifeboat	Zacharey Jane	University of Queensland Press
	People of the Book	Geraldine Brooks	Fourth Estate (HarperCollins)
	Sustenance	Simone Lazaroo	University of Western Australia Press
2010	The China Garden	Kristina Olsson	University of Queensland Press	^[5]
	Headlong	Susan Varga	UWA Publishing
	The Lost Life	Steven Carroll	HarperCollins
	Swimming	Enza Gandolfo	Vanark Press
	The World Beneath	Cate Kennedy	Scribe
2011	Come Inside	G. L. Osborne	Clouds of Magellan	^[5]
	Good Daughter	Honey Brown	Penguin/Viking
	Indelible Ink	Fiona McGregor	Scribe
	Like Being a Wife	Catherine Harris	Vintage
	Sustenance	Simone Lazaroo	University of Western Australia Press
2012	All That I Am	Anna Funder	Penguin	^[4]
	Cold Light	Frank Moorhouse	Vintage
	Five Bells	Gail Jones	Vintage
	Foal's Bread	Gillian Mears	Allen & Unwin
	Too Close to Home	Georgia Blain	Vintage
	When We Have Wings	Claire Corbett	Allen & Unwin
2014	Sea Hearts	Margo Lanagan	Allen & Unwin
	The Night Guest	Fiona McFarlane	Penguin
	The First Week	Margaret Merrilees	Wakefield Press	^[7]
	The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt	Tracy Farr	Fremantle Press
	The Mountain	Drusilla Modjeska	Vintage
	Pilgrimage	Jacinta Halloran	Scribe
	Sufficient Grace	Amy Espeseth	Scribe Publications
2016	Hope Farm	Peggy Frew	Scribe Publications	^[8]
	A Guide to Berlin	Gail Jones	Vintage
	Laurinda	Alice Pung	Black Inc.
	The Natural Way of Things	Charlotte Wood	Allen & Unwin
	The Protected	Claire Zorn	University of Queensland Press
	This Picture of You	Sarah Hopkins	Allen & Unwin
2018	The Trapeze Act	Libby Angel	Text	^[9]
	From the Wreck	Jane Rawson	Transit Lounge
	Goodwood	Holly Throsby	Allen & Unwin
	Storyland	Catherine McKinnon	HarperCollins
	Troppo	Madelaine Dickie	Fremantle Press
2020	Wolfe Island	Lucy Treloar	Picador	^[10]
	There Was Still Love	Favel Parrett	Hachette	^[11]
	Too Much Lip	Melissa Lucashenko	University of Queensland Press
	The White Girl	Tony Birch	University of Queensland Press
	The Yield	Tara June Winch	Hamish Hamilton
2022	Revenge: Murder in Three Parts	S. L. Lim	Transit Lounge	^[12]
	The Bass Rock	Evie Wyld	Penguin
	Benevolence	Julie Janson	Magabala
	Bodies of Light	Jennifer Down	Text
	Ordinary Matter	Laura Elvery	University of Queensland Press
	Smart Ovens for Lonely People	Elizabeth Tan	Brio
2024	Songs For the Dead and Living	Sara M. Saleh	Affirm	^[13]
	Days of Innocence and Wonder	Lucy Treloar	Pan Macmillan Australia	^[13]
	Salonika Burning	Gail Jones	Text	^[14]
	Edenglassie	Melissa Lucashenko	University of Queensland Press
	Sunbirds	Miranda Riwoe	University of Queensland Press
	Stone Yard Devotional	Charlotte Wood	Allen & Unwin