Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA), in partnership with Australia’s leading essential building and infrastructure services provider ARA Group, is excited to announce the Shortlists for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Selected from over 130 entries, the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize Shortlists demonstrate the power of the historical fiction genre to recover lost, overlooked or deliberately erased histories while illuminating what is often hidden and unspoken in society today. Set in eras spanning two World Wars, China during Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward, through to Australian histories of First Nations’ resistance, post war migrants and 1960s Melbourne, the shortlists provide a compelling mix of mystery, adventure, gritty realism and good humour through tales of courage, resilience, heartache and survival.
Congratulations to the talented historical novelists who are in contention for a prize pool of $150,000.
The ARA Historical Novel Prize winners will be announced on 23 October 2024.
The shortlisted titles for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize – Adult Category are:
The Unearthed by Lenny Bartulin (Allen & Unwin)
Women & Children by Tony Birch (University of Queensland Press)
Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)
Highly Commended status was awarded to:
The Beauties by Lauren Chater (Simon & Schuster)
A Better Place by Stephen Daisley (Text Publishing)
To Sing of War by Catherine McKinnon (HarperCollins Publishers
WHAT THE JUDGES SAY
The judging panel for the Adult Category includes Tony Maniaty (Chair), Meenakshi Bharat, Sienna Brown, Catherine Chidgey and Michael Williams.
According to the Chair, Tony Maniaty: “Choosing this year’s shortlist from an outstanding longlist of nine novels proved challenging, but ultimately three works stood out for the high quality of their writing and their refreshing and often innovative approach to handling of history. Unanimously the judges nominated these three novels as finalists.
The sheer inventiveness of the three finalists also sets them apart. All exemplify the novel in its modern form, venturing into the complexities of the past in quite different and exciting ways, while breaking literary conventions. With often surprising turns, the genres of crime, Indigenous history and social realism are porously blended here into fresh forms of historical fiction, very effectively connecting past and present.”
The longlisted titles for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize – Children and Young Adult Category are:
Secret Sparrow by Jackie French (HarperCollins Publishers)
Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky by Rebecca Lim (Allen & Unwin)
Spies in the Sky by Beverley McWilliams (Pantera Press)
WHAT THE JUDGES SAY
The judging panel for the CYA Category includes Anna Ciddor (Chair), Danielle Clode and Lystra Rose.
According to Chair, Anna Ciddor, “It is an amazing coincidence that all three of the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize Children and Young Adult shortlisted books have bird-themed titles, but this is, in fact, extremely apt. Out of a wonderfully varied long list, the judges felt these three books soared high, not only with gripping and appealing story arcs and strongly relatable characters, but also by achieving great heights in the quality of their research. Each author has seamlessly woven this research into their storytelling, achieving exciting, immersive experiences for young readers. The three shortlisted titles explore universal challenges and emotions while at the same time bringing to light and to life historical moments little known to Australian readers.”
About the Prize
The ARA Historical Novel Prize is worth a total of $150,000 in prize monies. The Prize will award $100,000 to the Adult category winner, with an additional $5,000 to be awarded to each of the remaining two shortlisted authors. In the Children and Young Adult (CYA) category, the winner will receive $30,000, while the two shortlisted authors will receive $5,000 each.
The prize is open to novels where the majority of the narrative takes place at least 50 years ago by authors who are Australian or New Zealand citizens or residents.
The ARA Historical Novel Prize has been made possible through the generous patronage of ARA Group. The ARA Group, and its Founder, Executive Chair and CEO, Edward Federman, are committed to supporting the arts and literature.
ARA Group Founder, Executive Chair and CEO — and patron of the arts — Edward Federman said, “In its fifth year, we’re proud to not only continue, but amplify, the impact the ARA Historical Novel Prize will have on the literary community in Australia and New Zealand by rewarding authors for their contributions to our society’s extraordinary library of published works. I congratulate all the talented authors shortlisted for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.”
