A Piece of Red Cloth wins Prime Minister’s Literary Award

The novel ‘A Piece of Red Cloth’ has won the $80,000 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction. The book is a collaborative work between novelist Leonie Norrington, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, and Yolngu cultural custodians Djawa Burarrwanga and the late Djawundil Maymuru.

Set in the 17th century in north-east Arnhem Land, the story is based on Yolngu oral history. It depicts the interactions between a Yolngu family and Macassan traders from present-day Indonesia, tracing a shift from peaceful cultural contact to more difficult dynamics following Dutch colonial influence in Makassar.

Other winners of the 2026 awards include: • Non-fiction: Kate Wild for ‘The Red House’, which examines the death of Kumanjayi Walker. • Children’s Literature: Zana Fraillon for ‘Song of a Thousand Seas’. • Australian History: Rohan Howitt for ‘The Southern Frontier’. • Poetry: Ender Başkan for ‘Two Hundred Million Musketeers’. • Young Adult Literature: Pip Harry for ‘Drift’.