Australian literature enjoyed an astonishing year in 2025. Covering fiction, memoir, poetry and crime genres, writers created stories that attracted attention, won accolades and earned spots on bookshelves nationwide. The year highlighted emerging talent, alongside established authors, enriching a literary landscape full of various viewpoints and engaging narratives.
The notable awards highlighted patterns in topics that connected with both readers and critics. Migration, identity, family legacy and the Australian experience stood out as themes in many shortlists. Multiple books featured in prize sections emphasise these subjects showing the influence. A collection of Australia’s 2025 best books showcasing literature in 2025 will be discussed here.
Ghost Cities by Siang Lu
Siang Lu’s Ghost Cities won the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s literary prize worth $60,000. The novel is inspired by the abandoned megacities in China. Interlaces multiple narratives of diaspora, truth and power.
The judges promptly labelled it as both a comedy and a deep contemplation on diaspora. Lu explores what it means to be Chinese but not entirely Chinese, managing the difficulties of living between cultures. The book was on its merry way for ten years and was turned down more than 200 times before it was finally published. Ghost Cities has also been nominated for five awards, among them the Russell Prize, for Humour Writing and the Readings New Australian Fiction Prize .
The Miles Franklin Award is given to novels of high literary quality that depict Australian life in its various aspects. Ghost Cities is one of the books in a series of award-winning works like Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy in 2024 and Shankari Chandran’s Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens in 2023. Lu’s triumph represents the recognition that stories about the experience are essential to Australian identity.
Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser
Michelle de Kretser was given the 2025 Stella Prize for Theory & Practice. The book is a fiction set in 1980s Melbourne, and the story is about a woman who came to study Virginia Woolf’s works and, later, became very much involved in the St Kilda art scene. Judges described it as a fabric woven with the themes of the changing dynamics and dangers of young love, complicated legacies both literary and maternal, and vehement jealousies.
The Stella Prize, with a prize money of $60,000, is a celebration of the creative works of women and non-binary writers. De Kretser, a two-time Miles Franklin award winner, for Questions of Travel and The Life to Come, created what the judges referred to as a work of hyper-realism. Judges recognised it as a tapestry consisting of the shifting forces and risks of youthful love, complex inheritances both literary and maternal and intense jealousies.
The Stella Prize, awarding $60,000, celebrates women and non-binary writers. Theory & Practice was also a Miles Franklin finalist, reflecting its impact across panels. It explores topics such as desire, jealousy, truthfulness and shame while pushing the boundaries of what a novel can encompass.
The Voice Inside by John Farnham with Poppy Stockell
Australian music legend John Farnham, along with the director Poppy Stockell, were the big winners at the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards for their project The Voice Inside: Total Book of the Year, Life Story of the Year, and Audio recording of the Year, three awards won by John Farnham and Poppy Stockell.
The story of the singer’s journey, a triumphant rise to the cancer fight, is what the autobiography, according to the Australian Arts Review, is all about, as quoted by the Australian Arts Review.
The judges praised the collaboration and commitment to refining the storytelling and narration while also recognising the planning and consideration that allowed John Farnham to tell his story in his own voice. The audiobook edition features Farnham, his wife Jill and Gaynor Wheatley as narrators, creating an experience for the audience.
The Voice Inside demonstrates how memoirs can embody stories. Farnham’s story resonates as it tracks changes in entertainment and society over decades. The book’s success in areas shows that superb publishing, marketing and production also contribute to a work’s impact, beyond the quality of the writing alone.
Dirt Poor Islanders by Winnie Dunn
Winnie Dunn’s first novel, Dirt Poor Islanders, was shortlisted for the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award. The narrative portrays the generational, intertwined experiences of a diasporic teenager living in the Western Sydney suburbs. Dunn, a Tongan author based in Mount Druitt, is also the manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement.
The novel explores the significance of being part of the Moana Pasifika community in Australia, navigating family expectations, cultural traditions and the daily realities of life. Dunn’s debut work impressed judges with its voice and vivid ambience. Western Sydney, often neglected in literature, takes centre stage as a vibrant and intricate setting.
Dirt Poor Islanders contributes to a collection of works expanding the range of narratives to include diverse migrant perspectives. The book’s praise shows that readers and critics alike are keen on stories reflecting Australia’s reality rather than outdated portrayals of national identity.
The Burrow by Melanie Cheng
Melanie Cheng’s The Burrow was named among the finalists for the 2025 Stella Prize. This book delves into themes of connections, grief and the defensive walls people build to guard themselves from external forces. Cheng employs insight in her narrative, creating characters that feel genuinely real.
The Burrow explores how people manage sorrow and endeavour to preserve connections despite forces. Cheng’s prose is precise and controlled, allowing subtle emotions to emerge via behaviour and subtlety. The book featured on recommendation lists gradually gained growing recognition as readers passed it along through word of mouth.
The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen by Shokoofeh Azar
Several reviewers chose Shokoofeh Azar’s The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen as their best of 2025. The narrative portrays the conflict between customs and oppressive modern regimes in Iran. Azar’s second novel weaves a captivating world that informs readers about known cultures and histories.
This book shows how fiction can serve simultaneously as a form of expression and a method of education by familiarising readers with traditions through storytelling. Azar examines themes of suppression, faith and resilience employing language that alternates between wonder and fear. The attention it has drawn from academics and literary critics verifies that its importance goes beyond entertainment, contributing to the preservation of culture.
Yilkari: A Desert Suite by Nicolas Rothwell and Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson
Yilkari: A Desert Suite, by Nicolas Rothwell and Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson, explores the mystery and importance of the Australian landscape. This collaboration, involving an Indigenous writer and an Indigenous co-author, creates a work aiming to bridge varied viewpoints on experiencing and understanding the land.
The book appeared in the best-of-the-year collections and was praised for offering readers profound approaches to engage with the land, surpassing superficial outlooks. Yilkari prompts readers to view the land through perspectives and knowledge systems that extend across tens of thousands of years.
Little World by Josephine Rowe
Josephine Rowe’s Little World is a novella focusing on outsiders and outcasts, structured in a triptych format. Titled The Conversation, it opens with a depiction of a child-saint’s body brought by horse float to a remote desert homestead, then broadens its scope across different times and places.
Each acts as a symbol representing guilt and connections in the designed work. Rowe’s novella was a demonstration that short stories can be both emotionally and intellectually deep. It was the kind of story that readers couldn’t forget even a long time after they had finished it, a hallmark of storytelling that is really strong.
The Rot by Evelyn Araluen
Tony Hughes-d’Aeth is a professor and chair of literature at The University of Western Australia. He chose The Rot, by Evelyn Araluen, as his favourite book of 2025. This collection of poetry portrays rot as an injustice affecting areas, from Gaza to the housing crisis, while also exploring themes of personal and internal decay.
Araluen was given the Stella Prize in 2022 for her book Dropbear and is among the most insightful voices in poetry that make up the recent Australian literature. She tackles the politicised world in her poems, doing so honestly and straightforwardly, yet her poems are of a high literary fashion. The Rot further supports the notion that poetry can tackle issues as central themes without compromising its artistic integrity.
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