Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North was announced as the winner of the fiction book award at a presentation at the State Library of Queensland on Monday night.

QLA chair Stuart Glover said the tale about a surgeon working on the infamous Thai-Burma death railway had already received international recognition with the Man Booker.

"It is a novel of abundant range and depth that will undoubtedly become regarded as one of the great works of Australian literature," he said.

Paul Ham won the non-fiction prize for 1914: The Year the World Ended, about how Australia was dragged into the Great War, while Jaclyn Moriarty took out the Young Adult prize for The Cracks in the Kingdom, the second book in The Colours of Madeleine fantasy trilogy.

Legendary Brisbane author David Malouf won the best poetry collection for Earth Hour, which examines the planet, its people and space itself at a precarious time in our history.

"These books, the winners, and the notable shortlists, remind us of the diverse things that books can do and the invention and creativity with which writers undertake their work," Dr Glover said.

"The awards acknowledge the quality of contemporary writing and point readers towards works that might be of interest to them or important in helping us to think about who we are as a community."

The Queensland Literary Awards began as a community-driven event after funding for the Premier's Literary Awards was cut by the Newman government shortly after taking office in 2012.

Last year the state introduced the Queensland Writers Fellowships awards, granting three writers $15,000 prizes to allow them to finish a manuscript with a view to publication.

Arts Minister Ian Walker announced the 2014 winners on Monday: Ellen van Neerven, David Stavanger and Sophie Overett.

Jack Vening was also announced as the recipient of the 2013 Queensland Premier's Young Writers Fellowship, with a $10,000 prize.

"The Queensland government investment in these fellowships is paying off for our writers and for the government's drive to develop new work and writing talent," Mr Walker said.

Mr Walker said government investment in the state's writers was paying off.

"Last year's winners, Patrick Holland, Kristina Olsson and Angela Slatter, are all experiencing success," he said.

"Kristina's work, Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir, won the Nita Kibble Literary Award, Angela Slatter published her latest collection, The Bitterwood Bible, in the UK in 2014 and Patrick Holland released his latest book, Navigatio, just last month."