Proud Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman Dr Amy McQuire, a senior lecturer from the QUT Carumba Institute, has won the top prize at the 2025 Queensland Literary Awards.
Her rigorous interrogation of some of Australia’s most troubling criminal cases involving Indigenous peoples, Black Witness: The Power of Indigenous Media (UQP), won the $30,000 Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance.
Award judges said Black Witness was a work of outstanding scholarly rigour and moral clarity.
“Grounded in meticulous evidence, it offers a powerful indictment of systemic injustice and underscores the need for truth-telling. This is a vital contribution to Indigenous scholarship and the national reckoning we so urgently need,” the judges said.
A journalist, academic, writer and commentator, Dr McQuire has been widely published, recognised with a Clarion Award for Indigenous affairs reporting, and nominated for a Walkley Award.
In 2022, she won Meanjin’s Hilary McPhee Award for essay writing that makes a fearless contribution to the national debate.
Creative Industries alumni Dr Alex Philip and Sean West were awarded the Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Awards, each receiving $12,000 plus career development support to the value of $3,000.
Determined by public vote, The Courier-Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award was also awarded to alumnus Dr Laura Elvery for her book Nightingale.
Minister for Education and the Arts John-Paul Langbroek said the Queensland Government supported the Queensland Literary Awards to celebrate and showcase the creative talent and exceptional work of the state’s storytellers, poets and writers.
“Congratulations to Dr Amy McQuire on winning the Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance, and to Alex Philp and Sean West, who have each won a Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award,” he said.
“Queensland’s literary sector is part of a vibrant statewide arts and cultural scene, which will play a pivotal role in sharing our unique stories with the world in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond.”
Since 2014, State Library of Queensland has managed the awards on behalf of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, in collaboration with sponsors, industry partners and the writing community.
State Librarian and CEO Vicki McDonald AM said the awards celebrate the work of storytellers whose passion and commitment to writing enriches the lives of readers throughout the world.
“The winners of this year’s awards provide us with the opportunity to wrestle with big ideas that provoke and inspire, reminding us of the power of literature to spark debate and connect people of different perspectives,” she said.
“Congratulations to all this year’s winners, who are now part of a long and distinguished history of writing and storytelling in Queensland that stretches back millennia.”
Other QUT alumni nominated as finalists include Simon Cleary, Sophie Beer, Steve MinOn, Bronte Coates, Mindy Gill, Karen Lee and Svetlana Sterlin.
Media contact:
Lauren Baxter
QUT Media
media@qut.edu.au
07 3138 2361 / 0407 585 901 (After Hours)
