The winners of the 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards (VPLAs) were announced at the ceremony held at The Edge in Federation Square on Wednesday evening 19 March.

2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the VPLAs, with the awards originally established by the Victorian government in 1985. The total VPLAs prize pool is $317,000.

The Melbourne Theatre Company production of Nathan Maynard’s 37. Photo © Pia Johnson

Trawlwoolway man Nathan Maynard’s play 37, commissioned and developed through Melbourne Theatre Company’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program and co-produced by Melbourne Theatre Company and Queensland Theatre was awarded the prize in the Drama category. Read the Limelight review here.

The Victorian Prize for Literature was awarded to Nukgal Wurra author-artist Wanda Gibson for her picture book Three Dresses. The Prize for Fiction went to Fiona McFarlane for Highway 13.

The Prize for Non-Fiction was awarded to Susan Hampton for her queer social history and memoir anything can happen, and the Prize for Poetry to Gawimarra: Gathering by the Wiradjuri writer, poet and academic Jeanine Leane.