Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 25, 2026

Melissa Lucashenko

Melissa Lucashenko is an Indigenous Australian writer of literary fiction and young adult literature.

Last revised
Jul 25, 2026
Read time
≈ 9 min
Length
1,963 w
Citations
76
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Melissa Lucashenko
Lucashenko for Griffith Review in 2019
Lucashenko for Griffith Review in 2019
Born1967 (age 58–59)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
OccupationWriter
Genre
  • Literary fiction
  • young adult literature
Notable worksToo Much Lip
Notable awardsMiles Franklin Award (2019)
Website
melissa-lucashenko.com

Melissa Lucashenko is an Indigenous Australian writer of literary fiction and young adult literature.

In 2013 at the Walkley Awards, she won the Long Feature Writing Award for her piece "Sinking Below Sight: Down and Out in Brisbane and Logan".1 In 2019, she won the Miles Franklin Award for Too Much Lip.2

Early life and education

Melissa Lucashenko was born in 1967 in Brisbane, Australia. She is of Bundjalung and Ukrainian heritage.34 She graduated from Griffith University in 1990 with a degree in public policy.56

In 1992, she was a founding member of Sisters Inside, an organisation that supports women and girls in prison.78

Writing career

She has said that when she began writing seriously "there was still a glaring hole in Australian literature," with almost no prominent Aboriginal voices and with very few outlets publishing the work of Aboriginal writers.9

Early work

Lucashenko's first work to be published was the novel Steam Pigs (1997), which won the Dobbie Literary Award for debut Australian women writers.10 It was also shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize for and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (South East Asia and South Pacific).6

In 1998, she released the novel Killing Darcy, which won the Royal Blind Society's Talking Book Award for young readers (also referred to as the Aurora Prize).1112a It was also a finalist for the 1998 Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel and longlisted for the 1998 James Tiptree Award.1314

In 1999 her third novel, Hard Yards, was published. It was a finalist for the 1999 NSW Premier's Literary Awards15 and the 2001 Courier-Mail Book of the Year Award.16 In 2002 her fourth novel Too Flash, written for young adults, was published.17

Critical success

Lucashenko's fifth novel, Mullumbimby, won the Queensland Literary Award for Fiction Book in 201318 and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing in 2014,19 as well as being nominated for several other awards.20212223 In 2015 it was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award.2425

In 2019 her sixth novel Too Much Lip won the Miles Franklin Award26 and Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance.27 The novel was also shortlisted for the Stella Prize.72829 Judges called it "a fearless, searing and unvarnished portrait of generational trauma cut through with acerbic humour."7 Cenozoic Pictures optioned Too Much Lip for a screen adaptation, with Lucashenko as a co-writer and co-creator alongside Cenozoic's Veronica Gleeson.30

Her seventh novel, Edenglassie, was released in 2023 and won the Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance for the second time,31 as well as the Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction.32 In late 2024, it won the ARA Historical Novel Prize, being commended for capturing "the brutal realities of colonisation while celebrating the resilience of Indigenous cultures."33

Non-fiction writing

Lucashenko is also an essayist, winning the 2013 Long Feature Writing Walkley Award for "Sinking below sight: Down and out in Brisbane and Logan". Speaking about this essay, Lucashenko said that she was partly informed by her studies in public policy.34

Personal life

Lucashenko moved with her husband and daughter back to the Aboriginal lands in New South Wales where her great-grandmother said she was from. She subsequently divorced from her husband. She has spoken publicly about her daughter's mental illness.35

Nominations and awards

Year Work Award Category Result Ref
1997 Steam Pigs Commonwealth Writers' Prize First Book (South East Asia and South Pacific) Shortlisted 6
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize for Fiction Shortlisted
1998 Nita Kibble Literary Awards Dobbie Literary Award Won 10
Killing Darcy Aurealis Award Young Adult Novel Shortlisted 13
Royal Blind Society Aurora Prizea Talking Book for Young Readers Won 1112
1999 James Tiptree Jr. Award — Longlisted 36
Hard Yards New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Shortlisted 37
2001 Courier-Mail Book of the Year — Nominated
2013 "Sinking Below Sight" Walkley Award Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words) Won 1
Mullumbimby Queensland Literary Awards Deloitte Fiction Book Award Won 5
2014 Miles Franklin Award — Longlisted
Nita Kibble Literary Awards Nita B Kibble Literary Award Shortlisted 23
Stella Prize — Longlisted 5
Victorian Premier's Literary Award Indigenous Writing Won 38
2015 International Dublin Literary Award — Longlisted 5
2019 Too Much Lip Australian Book Industry Awards — Longlisted 39
Miles Franklin Award — Won 26
Queensland Literary Awards Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance Won 27
Queensland Literary Awards The University of Queensland Fiction Book Award Shortlisted 40
Stella Prize — Shortlisted 7
Victorian Premier's Literary Award Indigenous Writing Shortlisted 41
2020 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Indigenous Writers' Prize Shortlisted 42
International Dublin Literary Award — Longlisted 43
2024 Edenglassie Australian Book Industry Awards Small Publishers' Adult Book of the Year Won 44
ARA Historical Novel Prize — Won 33
Barbara Jefferis Award — Shortlisted 45
Colin Roderick Award — Won 46
Indie Book Awards Fiction Won 47
Miles Franklin Award — Longlisted 48
Nib Literary Award — Won 49
Prime Minister's Literary Awards Fiction Shortlisted 50
Queensland Literary Awards Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance Won 31
Fiction Book Award Shortlisted 51
Stella Prize — Longlisted 52
Victorian Premier's Literary Award Fiction Won 32
2025 International Dublin Literary Award — Longlisted 53
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize for Fiction Shortlisted 54
2026 Walter Scott Prize — Longlisted 55
Bibliography

Bibliography

Novels

YA Novels

Essays

Footnotes

Footnotes

  1. So far no primary sources to establish exactly what this award was.
References

References

  1. "Walkley Winners Archive". The Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  2. Evans, Kate (30 July 2019). "Miles Franklin awarded to Indigenous author for 'novel of celebratory defiance'". ABC News. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  3. "Melissa Lucashenko Biography". University of Queensland Press.
  4. "Q & A 1 – Melissa Lucashenko". Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  5. "Melissa Lucashenko". Griffith Review. Archived from the original on 23 October 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  6. "Melissa Lucashenko". AustLit.
  7. "Too Much Lip". Stella. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  8. "Home". Sisters Inside. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  9. Lucashenko, Melissa (15 June 2017). "Q&A". Melissa-Lucashenko.com. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  10. Johnson, Susan (30 November 2013). "Melissa Lucashenko, 46, author". The Courier Mail.
  11. "Celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Writing: Interview with Melissa Lucashenko". Australian Women Writers Challenge Blog. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  12. "Killing Darcy". AustLit. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  13. "The Locus Index to SF Awards: 1999 Aurealis Awards". Locus Online. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  14. "The Locus Index to SF Awards: 1999 James Tiptree Jr Memorial Award". Locus Online. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  15. ""Culture vultures"". The Age, 15 July 2000. ProQuest 2521970088. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  16. "Austlit – Hard Yards – Awards". Austlit. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
  17. "Too Flash". AustLit.
  18. "Queensland Literary Awards 2013 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  19. "Lucashenko wins 2014 Vic Prem's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing". Books+Publishing. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  20. "Queensland Literary Awards 2013 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  21. "Melissa Lucashenko – Mullumbimbi". Stella. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  22. Davidson, Helen (3 April 2014). "Miles Franklin award: seven women among the 11 longlisted". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  23. "Kibble and Dobbie awards 2014 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  24. "First things first". Griffith Review (60). 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  25. "Mullumbimby". Dublin Literary Award. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  26. Convery, Stephanie (30 July 2019). "Miles Franklin 2019 winner Melissa Lucashenko: 'We need a revolution'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  27. Qian, Jinghua (12 November 2019). "Winners announced for the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards". ArtsHub. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  28. Nelson, Camilla (8 April 2019). "Stella prize 2019: your guide to the shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  29. Nelson, Camilla (8 April 2019). "Six books that shock, delve deeply and destroy pieties: your guide to the 2019 Stella Prize shortlist". The Conversation. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  30. Qian, Jinghua (11 February 2020). "Adapting Too Much Lip for screen". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  31. "Queensland Literary Awards 2024 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  32. Heath, Nicola (1 February 2024). "Debut poet takes home $125,000 in prize money for a verse novel that almost wasn't published". ABC News. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  33. "2024 ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL PRIZE WINNERS ANNOUNCED". HNSA. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  34. Watts, Madeleine (3 September 2013). "Interview with Melissa Lucashenko". Griffith Review. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  35. Lucashenko, Melissa (22 August 2013). "My Grandmother's Country". The Moth. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  36. "1998 Long List". Otherwise Award. 12 March 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  37. "Too Much Lip". Department of Communications and the Arts. Australian Government. 16 August 2019. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  38. Hornbeck, Susan (4 September 2014). "Congratulations to Melissa Lucashenko". Griffith Review. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  39. McDuling, Sarah (7 March 2019). "2019 ABIA Longlist announced". The Booktopian. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  40. "2019 Queensland fiction book award finalists". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  41. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2019 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  42. Perkins, Cathy (Summer 2019). "Excellence in Literature an History". SL Magazine. 12 (4): 52–55.
  43. "Too Much Lip". Dublin Literary Award. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  44. "Australian Book Industry Award Winners 2024". ABIA. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  45. "Barbara Jefferis Award 2024 Shortlist Announced". Whispering Gums. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  46. "2024 Long and Short Lists". JCU.
  47. "Winners announced for the Indie Book Awards 2024". Indie Book Awards. 24 March 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  48. "Miles Franklin 2024 longlist announced". Books+Publishing. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  49. "Lucashenko wins 2024 Nib Literary Award". Books+Publishing. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  50. "Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2024 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  51. "Queensland Literary Awards 2024 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  52. "Stella Prize 2024 longlist announced". Books+Publishing. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  53. "Edenglassie". Dublin Literary Award. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  54. "NSW Literary Awards 2025 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 30 April 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  55. "Lucashenko's "Edenglassie" on Walter Scott Prize longlist". Books+Publishing. 12 February 2026. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
Further reading

Further reading

External links