These awards have grown greatly since the first few award categories in 1985. The categories for the 2008 awards are as follows:
2008 Awards
The Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction
The Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction
The Prize for Young Adult Fiction
The Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript by an Emerging Victorian Writer
The CJ Dennis Prize for Poetry
The Louis Esson Prize for Drama
The Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate
The Prize for a First Book of History
The Prize for Indigenous Writing
The John Curtin Prize for Journalism
The Prize for Best Music Theatre Script
The Grollo Ruzzene Foundation Prize for Writing about Italians in Australia
To see all the titles which are shortlisted for 2008, read here.