Evelyn Araluen triumph at Victorian Literary Awards 2026

Published: 25 February 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

Evelyn Araluen has claimed a major double victory at the Victorian premier’s literary awards, securing a combined $125,000 for her latest poetry collection, The Rot. The Evelyn Araluen triumph was confirmed on Thursday evening, marking a defining moment in her already celebrated career. The Goorie and Koori poet won both the $100,000 Victorian prize for literature and the $25,000 Indigenous writing award for the same collection.

The awards ceremony, held in Melbourne, brought together leading figures from Australia’s literary world. Nearly 700 books were entered across categories this year, reflecting the strength and diversity of contemporary writing. Against that crowded field, The Rot emerged as a standout work, praised by judges for its bold form and political urgency.

Judges described the collection as possessing remarkable poetic intelligence and emotional precision. They called it formally daring and politically uncompromising, adding that it offers a vital intervention in Australia’s cultural conversation. Such language underscored the significance of the Evelyn Araluen triumph, not only as personal recognition but as a broader cultural statement.

Before learning she had also secured the overall Victorian prize for literature, Araluen spoke warmly about winning the Indigenous writing category. She admitted she had not expected to take the top honour. In a moment of candid humour, she suggested she would be content with her category prize alone. The surprise announcement later that evening therefore added an emotional twist to proceedings.

Araluen’s path to this moment has been shaped by both acclaim and challenge. She previously won the prestigious Stella Prize in 2022 for her debut collection, Dropbear. That earlier success established her as one of Australia’s most distinctive poetic voices. However, she has been open about the financial precarity she experienced while building her career.

Following the Stella win, Araluen revealed she had been close to poverty while completing her first book. She balanced multiple temporary arts roles and academic commitments during that period. Since then, she has secured a full-time academic position, which she once viewed as a compromise. Over time, she has come to see that stability as enabling greater creative freedom.

The creation of The Rot was intense and compressed. Araluen wrote much of the collection over several months last year. She often worked late into the evening, after finishing her academic duties. She later reflected that immersing herself so deeply in traumatic subject matter carried emotional risks.

The book was sparked by a difficult experience at Adelaide Writers’ Week in 2024. During a public reading, Araluen referred to Israel’s killing of Palestinians in Gaza as a genocide. Some audience members heckled her, with several people leaving the event in protest. The confrontation left her shaken but resolute.

She has said the poems in The Rot emerged from that moment of public tension. They grapple with grief, rage, inertia and helplessness in the face of violence. Araluen described the physical sensation of powerlessness when confronting what she views as government complicity. The collection attempts to document that emotional landscape with unflinching clarity.

At the same time, she recalled that many audience members approached her in tears after the reading. They thanked her for articulating feelings they had struggled to express. That dual response, hostility and solidarity, became central to the book’s emotional core. The Evelyn Araluen triumph therefore reflects not only literary craft but lived experience.

In interviews, Araluen has expressed hope that The Rot will one day feel dated. She wishes for a future in which its warnings read as naive rather than prophetic. Yet she is also clear that the collection stands as a record. It documents what she believes many people knew and failed to stop.

Beyond artistic concerns, Araluen has used her platform to question how literary prizes are taxed in Australia. Unlike the prime minister’s literary awards, many state prizes are treated as taxable income. She has noted that her Stella Prize winnings were taxed at nearly 50 percent. For writers who spend years on a single project, such taxation can create financial disruption.

Araluen emphasises she supports taxation in principle. However, she argues that prize money often arrives unpredictably and unevenly. In countries with more flexible systems, artists can average income across years of feast and famine. She believes similar reforms would better sustain creative careers in Australia.

Her comments have resonated within the arts community. Many writers rely on grants, short-term contracts and prize income to survive. The Evelyn Araluen triumph, while substantial in headline value, also highlights the structural challenges facing artists. Financial security remains elusive for many, even after major accolades.

This year’s Victorian premier’s literary awards featured strong contenders across genres. The $2,000 people’s choice award went to Discipline by Randa Abdel-Fattah. Abdel-Fattah’s involvement in Adelaide Writers’ Week earlier this year had sparked controversy. Her removal from the festival led to the event’s collapse, drawing national attention.

The fiction prize was awarded to Omar Musa for his novel Fierceland. The book explores the legacy of a palm-oil baron through the lives of his children. Judges praised its glittering prose and ambitious scope. The work examines family, power and environmental consequence with lyrical intensity.

In nonfiction, the award went to Micaela Sahhar for Find Me at the Jaffa Gate. Judges described the memoir as remarkable and poetic in feeling. It traces the history of a Palestinian family with encyclopaedic care. The recognition reflects growing interest in diasporic storytelling within Australian letters.

Children’s literature honours were awarded to Zeno Sworder for his picture book Once I Was a Giant. The young adult category, renamed in memory of John Marsden, was won by Margot McGovern for her horror novel This Stays Between Us. The renaming paid tribute to Marsden’s enduring influence after his death in December 2024.

The poetry prize, separate from the overall Victorian prize for literature, was awarded to Eunice Andrada for her collection KONTRA. In drama, Emilie Collyer won for her play Super. The unpublished manuscript prize went to Charlotte Guest for The Kookaburra. Together, the winners reflect the vibrancy of Australia’s creative landscape.

The Victorian premier’s literary awards have operated since 1985. Over four decades, they have grown in prestige and financial value. The Victorian prize for literature remains one of the country’s richest literary honours. For Araluen, this year’s recognition cements her place among Australia’s leading contemporary poets.

The Evelyn Araluen triumph also carries international resonance. Debates around Gaza and free expression continue to reverberate globally. British readers will recognise similar tensions within cultural institutions at home. Araluen’s willingness to confront uncomfortable themes echoes wider conversations about art and accountability.

Her victory suggests that literary institutions are prepared to reward politically engaged writing. Judges explicitly praised the uncompromising stance of The Rot. That endorsement may encourage other writers to address contentious issues openly. It also signals that poetry remains a powerful medium for national reflection.

Ultimately, the Evelyn Araluen triumph is about more than prize money. It represents the recognition of a voice shaped by Indigenous identity, academic insight and moral urgency. Araluen has shown that poetry can respond swiftly to unfolding events while maintaining formal innovation. Her work insists that art must bear witness, even when audiences resist.

As celebrations fade, the questions raised by The Rot will linger. Araluen hopes the book becomes an artefact of a troubled moment. Whether it does so depends on political realities beyond literature’s reach. For now, her achievement stands as a testament to courage, craft and conviction.

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