The ACT Book of the Year Award is an annual prize of $10,000 awarded for a literary work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry written by an author from the Australian Capital Territory. The award was inaugurated in 1993 with $5,000 prize money. The Award showcases the talent and the excellence of local authors and is also intended to "inspire those who have an idea, a seed for a book to âÂÂpick up the penâ and get writing".