The Walkley Foundation today announced the longlist for the Walkley Book Award, part of Australia’s most prestigious journalism accolades, the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.
The Walkley Book Award celebrates Australian writers who take enduring subjects from news, eyewitness accounts, investigations and history. Their books bring readers immersive detail, clear analysis and new revelations.
Books entered this year spanned politics, war, business, crime, history, art, Indigenous issues, biography, sport, social change and investigative journalism. From these, eight books have been longlisted, and of this selection, three will be shortlisted as finalists on 5 November. The longlisted books cover topics including crime and justice, Indigenous deaths in custody, refugees, the spread of disease between humans and animals, feminism, first responders, Australia and Timor.
The eight books longlisted for this award are:
- Michael Dulaney, Sentinels, Scribe
- Virginia Haussegger, Unfinished Revolution: The feminist fightback, NewSouth Publishing
- Vannessa Hearman, The Good Sea, Melbourne University Publishing
- Martin McKenzie-Murray, Sirens, Black Inc.
- Neil Mercer, Falsely Convicted, Allen & Unwin
- Steven Schubert, Death in Yuendumu, HarperCollins Publishers
- Paul Toohey, The Fatal Island, Simon & Schuster
- Kate Wild, The Red House, Allen & Unwin
Walkley Foundation CEO Shona Martyn said: “This is a very impressive, and varied, longlist. It is pleasing to see seven different publishing houses represented which shows a commitment to books of serious long-form journalism from both major publishers and more boutique enterprises.
“I congratulate all the longlisted authors. And my huge thanks to the judges for their many weeks of committed, albeit highly stimulating, reading.”
A shortlist of three finalists will be announced on 5 November. The winner of the 2026 Walkley Book Award will be announced as part of the 71st Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism on 19 November 2026.
You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.
For media enquiries contact James Gorman on james.gorman@walkleys.com