For the best Australian women’s crime and mystery books of 2025
All enquiries should be sent to the judge co-ordinator Ruth Wykes.
ENTRY FEES
Save 33% with EarlyBird entries from 1-30 November 2025. Full fee entries from 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2026.
Entry fees are: $30 per book EarlyBird. $40 per book thereafter.
Entries close at midnight on Saturday 31 January 2026.
Six Davitt Awards will be presented at a gala dinner and awards ceremony in Melbourne in August 2026.
CATEGORIES
Books will be judged in the following categories:
- Best Adult Novel
- Best Young Adult Novel
- Best Children’s Novel
- Best Non-Fiction Book
- Best Debut Book.
We’d love to see more young adult and children’s books submitted.
The Kerry Greenwood Readers’ Choice Award is chosen from the longlist through a vote by the members of Sisters in Crime Australia.
THE TIMELINE
Judging will take place from February to July in 2026 by a panel of seven judges. The judges are chosen for their experience and expertise in the industry and hail from Victoria, ACT, NSW and Queensland.
These are the key dates for the 2026 Davitt Awards:
- 1 November 2025 – 30 November 2925: early bird entries are open
- 1 December – 31st January 2026: full-price entries are open
- February – July 2026: Judging underway
- May 2026: longlist announced
- July 2026: shortlist announced, and Readers’ Choice voting gets underway
- August 2026: Davitt Awards Gala Ceremony
The winners are notified approximately a month before the awards ceremony and invited to attend as guests of Sisters in Crime Australia. The awards ceremony is always in Melbourne.
With so many books now being published, we’d appreciate it if you entered as soon as possible, so the judges can start reading. That’s why we’ve introduced the Early Bird entry discount. Don’t leave it to the last minute!
HOW TO ENTER
- Confirm your book meets the conditions of entry. See below.
- Register and pay the entry fee per book through Eventbrite by no later than midnight on Saturday 31 January 2026. Note: if you are entering more than one book, you will need to enter each separately.
- Email to us a list of books you have entered asap. Make sure to specify the relevant categories in which the books are being entered and include whether the entry is a debut book. Closing date is 31 January 2026 but please send the list once you’ve paid on Eventbrite.
- If you are sending hard copies then mail one to each of the judges. You will receive an automatic email from Eventbrite with the details of where to send paper books.
- If you are sending eBooks, they must be in ePub format. Email them to the co-ordinator and do not send them in packages with expiry dates. Sisters in Crime’s Davitt Awards Coordinator will only distribute the ebooks to the judges. Please note: PDFs and Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) of books will not be accepted.
CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
- The author/s must be women, including intersex and transgender. Please note that books
co-written with men or including chapters written by men, will not be eligible. - The author does not need to live in Australia, but they must have Australian citizenship.
- The book must have been first published in 2025. This includes international releases.
- Self-published and hybrid authors are encouraged to submit their books.
- The book must have crime or mystery as its central theme. Davitt judges reserve the right
to exclude books from consideration if they believe the books do not fall within the crime
and mystery genre. - Books will not be considered if the entry fee hasn’t been paid or if books haven’t been
distributed to judges within 10 days of the closing date. - No book that has been created, either in full or partially by Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be
eligible to win a Davitt Award. By submitting an entry you consent to parts of your text
being run through AI detection software. - Books that are entered for the Best Debut Award must meet the following criteria: If the
book is a work of fiction, it must it must be the author’s first published novel in any genre,
or aimed at any age group. If the book is nonfiction, it must be the author’s first published
nonfiction book about any subject. This rule does not include academic papers or
research, or published long-form articles. It applies only to books.
Any questions, please contact the Judges’ Coordinator Ruth Wykes.