The Historical Novel Society Australasia, in partnership with the ARA Group, Australia’s leading essential building and infrastructure services provider, announced the winners of the ARA Historical Novel Prize 2024 at a celebratory event at NSW Parliament House on Wednesday, 23 October.
Offering the richest individual literary prize in Australasia, with a prize pool of $150,000, the awards recognise the outstanding literary talents of novelists who illuminate stories of the past, providing a window into our present and the future. The 2024 winning books span generations, including an epic novel of First Nations resistance and a dramatic war story with a difference. Our congratulations are extended to both winners.
ADULT CATEGORY WINNER
Melissa Lucashenko, an acclaimed Aboriginal Writer of Goorie and European heritage, was awarded the Adult Prize of $100,000 for her novel Edenglassie (University of Queensland Press).
The shortlisted authors
The shortlisted authors receiving $5,000 each are:
- Lenny Bartulin The Unearthed (Allen & Unwin)
- Tony Birch Women & Children (UQP)
WHAT THE JUDGES SAY
The judging panel for the Adult Category included Tony Maniaty (Chair), Meenakshi Bharat, Sienna Brown, Catherine Chidgey and Michael Williams.
According to the Chair, Tony Maniaty: Melissa Lucashenko’s Edenglassie is a fiercely original exploration of Australia’s past and its enduring consequences – an ambitious, epic novel that cracks what the author calls the ‘racist mythmaking’ that has painted Aboriginal people so negatively.
The novel weaves together two powerful streams – 19th century colonialism, and contemporary Indigenous existence in Australia. Lucashenko’s deft handling of these dual timelines illuminates the brutal realities of colonisation while celebrating the resilience of Indigenous cultures. While the novel is geographically specific, and wonderfully so, painting vivid images of South-East Queensland ‘then and now’, there’s a strong sense of the universal, showing the often-tragic impacts of displacement across history.
Lucashenko’s deep research into the colonial history of Moreton Bay in the 1850s shines through, as does the deep love between the towering Mulanyin, arriving from the Nerang region, and Nita, an orphaned Moreton Bay woman who works for family of Tom Petrie, a man of integrity caught up in the culture war of his time.
In the contemporary strand, Edenglassie sees the no-nonsense Eddie Blanket in a Brisbane hospital, attended by her very feisty relative Winona; both become engaged in contemporary Brisbane life, one at a personal level and the other more politically, yet equally with enduring scepticism.
Written with the wit, heart and intelligence that define Lucashenko’s work and here amount to virtuoso storytelling, Edenglassie a timely work that enriches the landscape of historical fiction.
CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT CATEGORY WINNER
Beverley McWilliams was named the Children and Young Adult winner for Spies in the Sky (Pantera Press), a delightfully engaging fiction story inspired by the true history of pigeons who went to war. McWilliams received $30,000 prize money for this category.
the shortlisted authors
Each shortlisted author receiving a $5,000 prize are:
- Jackie French Secret Sparrow (HarperCollins Publishers)
- Rebecca Lim Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky (Allen & Unwin)
WHAT THE JUDGES SAY
The judging panel for the CYA Category were Anna Ciddor (Chair), Danielle Clode and Lystra Rose.
According to Chair, Anna Ciddor, she and fellow judges, Lystra Rose and Danielle Clode, had no trouble agreeing on the winning title, despite the tough competition. Spies in the Sky by Beverley McWilliams offers everything they could wish for a children’s historical novel. The gripping story arc carries readers through to a satisfying and uplifting ending, and the historical content, based on in-depth research into pigeons used as spies in World War II, is a crucial part of both the plot and the setting, creating a seamless immersive experience. Although Beverley McWilliams tells the story from the pigeons’ point of view, she has made the clever decision not to restrict herself to realistic pigeon behaviour. Instead, her anthropomorphic approach allows the book to explore important themes for children such as friendship issues, learning how to be a team player, courage and empathy. A thought-provoking, enjoyable and uplifting historical novel, exactly right for this age group.
ABOUT THE PRIZE
The ARA Historical Novel Prize is worth a total of $150,000 in prize monies. The Prize awardS $100,000 to the Adult category winner, with an additional $5,000 awarded to each of the remaining two shortlisted authors. In the Children and Young Adult (CYA) category, the winner receiveS $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.
This year the ARA Historical Novel Prize increased its prize pool by 50% to $150,000, made possible through the generous patronage of ARA Group. Edward Federman, the ARA Group Founder, Executive Chair, Managing Director and patron of the arts says:
“It has been a pleasure to be involved in making a long-lasting contribution to the arts, particularly to the historical fiction genre that has not always received the attention it rightly deserves.
Our hope is that the ARA Historical Novel Prize will not only make a considerable difference to the lives of this year’s winning authors, but also shine a light on the historical fiction genre and the work of all entrants across Australia and New Zealand.”
ABOUT ARA GROUP
The ARA Group provides essential services for facilities and infrastructure throughout Australia and New Zealand. ARA takes pride in their engagement within the community through the ARA Endowment Fund. The Fund is committed to making a meaningful difference by donating 100% of its annual interest earnings to The Go Foundation, The Indigenous Literacy Foundation and The David Lynch Foundation. Since 2017, the ARA Group has sponsored the Historical Novel Society Australasia’s biennial conferences. ARA is Principal Partner of the Sydney Writers’ Festival, the Melbourne Writers Festival, the National Institute of Dramatic Art, the Monkey Baa Theatre, the Story Factory, and Crown Sponsor of Taronga Zoo.
