The winners of the 2021 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards were announced last night at the prizes’ first free virtual event.

Now in their 36th year, and supported by the Victorian Government, the prize aims to recognise significant books published in the past year, across seven categories.

Laura Jean McKay took out the $100 000 Victorian Prize for Literature (and the best fiction prize) with her novel The Animals in That Country, about a nationwide pandemic that allows people to understand animals.Check out our podcast with Laura, where she talks about the inspiration behind her award-winning novel, below.

Check out the rest of the winners:

Winner of the Prize for Fiction:

The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay (Scribe Publications)

Winner of the Prize for Non-Fiction:

Body Count: How Climate Change is Killing Us? by Paddy Manning (Simon & Schuster Australia)

Winner of the Prize for Drama:

Wonnangatta?by Angus Cerini, (Sydney Theatre Company)

Winner of the Prize for Poetry:

Case Notes? by David Stavanger UWA Publishing)

Winner of the Prize for Young Adult Writing:

Metal Fish, Falling Snow? by Cath Moore, (Text Publishing)

Winner of the Unpublished Manuscript Award:

Anam? by?André Dao (Victoria)

Winner of the Prize for Indigenous Writing:

Tell Me Why: The Story of My Life and My Music by Archie Roach, (Simon & Schuster Australia)