Susan Johnson was shortlisted for the 1991 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for her novel Flying Lessons (Heinemann 1990), shortlisted for the 1994 National Book Council's Banjo Award for the novel A Big Life (Pan Macmillan 1993) and shortlisted for the National Biography Award 2000 for her memoir A Better Woman (Random House 1999). Her other books include Hungry Ghosts (Pan Macmillan 1996), Messages from Chaos (Harper and Row 1987), Womenlovesex (Random House, 1997 editor and contributor). The Broken Book was shortlisted for the 2005 Nita B Kibble Award; the Best Fiction Book section of the Queensland Premier's Literary Award; the Westfield/Waverley Library Literary Award, and the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal Award for an Outstanding Australian Literary Work.