Miles Franklin shortlist grapples with profound questions of our time

The 2026 Miles Franklin Award shortlist was announced on Wednesday, revealing six novels vying for Australia’s most esteemed literary prize. The $60,000 award recognises works that capture the complexity of the national experience, with this year’s selection described by the judging panel as both “grand and intimate.” The shortlist includes four first-time nominees: Randa Abdel-Fattah, Steve MinOn, Konrad Muller, and Sean Wilson, alongside returning authors Omar Musa and Josephine Rowe.

The selected works tackle significant cultural and personal themes, including dementia, war, migration, and loneliness. The judges noted that the shortlist demonstrates how Australian novels can “sing the Australian experience into new shapes” while grappling with the most vexing questions of the current era. Each shortlisted author receives $5,000 from the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.

Randa Abdel-Fattah’s *Discipline*, published by University of Queensland Press, is described as “both a taut political thriller and a humane meditation” on how Australia navigates agonising conflicts. The novel, which previously won the people’s choice award at the 2026 Victorian Premier’s literary awards, comes amid significant industry turbulence for the author. Earlier this year, Abdel-Fattah was disinvited from the Adelaide Writers’ Festival, leading to a boycott by hundreds of writers and the event’s cancellation. In April, she severed ties with University of Queensland Press, joining over 16 other authors who ended contracts or vowed not to work with the publisher following its decision to cancel the publication of Jazz Money’s *Bila, A River Cycle*.

Brisbane-based Steve MinOn makes his debut with *First Name Second Name*, also published by University of Queensland Press. The novel follows a dead protagonist encountering four generations of family estrangements as he seeks to recover his lost identity. The judges termed the work “complex and timely” for its exploration of questions regarding “who gets to be a settler and who remains a migrant in Australia.”

Tasmania-based Konrad Muller also debuts with *My Heart At Evening*, published by Evercreech Editions. Set in 1832 Tasmania, this mystery novel is described as revealing “the power of literature to centre the discomfort of this settler colony’s past and present.” The shortlist also features second novels from Omar Musa and Sean Wilson. Musa’s *Fierceland*, published by Penguin Random House Australia, is a “psychologically layered” reckoning with inheritance and legacy, while Wilson’s *You Must Remember This*, published by Affirm Press, narrates the experience of dementia without romanticising its losses.

Josephine Rowe’s *Little World*, published by Black Inc, is a slender novel partially set in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The judges described it as “beautifully compressed,” covering themes of desire, loss, loneliness, and faith. The winner of the 2026 award will be announced on 5 August, following last year’s victory by Siang Lu for his novel *Ghost Cities*.