Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA), in partnership with Australia’s leading essential building and infrastructure services provider ARA Group, is excited to announce that entries for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize are now open.
The ARA Historical Novel Prize is the richest genre-based literary award in Australasia, incorporating both an Adult category and a Children and Young Adult (CYA) category. The Prize is worth a total of $100,000 in prize monies. The Prize will award $50,000 to the Adult category winner, with an additional $5,000 to be awarded to each of the remaining two shortlisted authors. In the CYA category, the winner will receive $30,000, while the two short listers will receive $5,000 each.
Chair and Program Director of the Historical Novel Society Australasia Elisabeth Storrs said the ARA Historical Novel Prize is an excellent opportunity for writers to showcase their work in the increasingly popular genre of historical fiction.
“Last year, we received 130 entries for the prize. These novels provided not only entertainment and escapism, but also enlightened readers on the richness of history. I am looking forward to exploring the bygone eras illuminated in the 2023 entries.”
“Designed to give historical novelists the opportunity to be recognised in a class of their own, the ARA Historical Novel Prize is a true celebration of historical fiction, and a real opportunity to foster it on a grander scale, and encourage younger readers to embrace the genre,” said Storrs.
The ARA Historical Novel Prize is made possible through the generous patronage of ARA Group. The ARA Group, and its Founder, Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Edward Federman, are committed to supporting the arts and literature.
“Responsible leadership of a business organisation in today’s world necessitates the allocation of some resources to make the world around us a better place. ARA believes celebrating writing, sharing ideas and telling stories is more important than ever,” said Federman.
“In its fourth 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,” he said.
The judging panels consist of:
- Adult Novels: Dr Robert Gott (Chair), Dr Renée Otmar and Lucy Treloar
- CYA Novels: Christopher Cheng (Chair), Dr Craig Cormick and Lauren Keenan
The definition of the genre set for the prize will ensure a breadth of talented writers is eligible to enter. Historical fiction will be defined as a novel in which the majority of the narrative must have taken place at least 50 years before publication.
A range of sub-genres are eligible, including historical mystery, historical romance, alternate history, historical fantasy, multi-time, time-slip, and parallel narrative novels. The judging criteria include depth of research, widespread commercial reader appeal, with excellence in writing as the deciding factor.
The ARA Historical Novel Prize is open to all authors who are citizens or residents of Australia or New Zealand. Authors, publishers, or agents may submit entries. Books must have first been published or released in Australia or New Zealand in English between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023. The history explored can be from any era or society across the world.
Key dates:
- Awards open: 9am (AEST) 12 April 2023
- Awards close: 5pm (AEST) 14 June 2023
- Longlist announced (nine books): 13 September 2023
- Shortlist announced (three books): 27 September 2023
- Winners announced: 19 October 2023
Winners will be announced at the HNSA biennial conference in October.
The HNSA supports and promotes the writing, reading and publication of historical fiction across Australia and New Zealand. It is the third arm of the international Historical Novel Society.
To enter the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize, visit: https://hnsa.org.au/the-2023-ara-historical-novel-prize/
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 Managing Director Edward Federman, are committed to supporting the arts and literature. They do this in a number of ways – as a Principal Partner of the Sydney Writers Festival, the Melbourne Writers Festival, the National Institute of Dramatic Art and the Monkey Baa Theatre, and as the Foundation Partner of the Historical Novel Society Australasia – and now as the sponsor of this very significant literary prize.
