Announcing the Longlists for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize
The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA), in conjunction with its generous sponsor ARA Group, is delighted to announce the longlists for the richest individual literary prize in Australasia with prize monies of $150,000 across the Adult and the Children & Young Adult categories.
HNSA Chair, Elisabeth Storrs, says, ‘This year’s longlists once again showcase the power of the historical fiction genre to reclaim lost narratives and re-imagine history with various themes including gender stereotypes, early feminism, heroism, ancestral connections and folklore. The stories span centuries and cultures from medieval Europe to the moon landing with stops along the way in C16th Lithuania and 1800s China, through to Victorian England, colonial Australia, C20th America and Central Australia, WW2 France and Hong Kong, to Stalin’s Russia. It will be a tough job ahead for the judges.’
The ARA Historical Novel Prize Shortlist will be announced on Wednesday 24 September 2025. The winners will be announced on 16 October 2025.
LONGLIST - ADULT CATEGORY
The nine talented authors, and their outstanding novels, selected in the Longlist for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize –Adult Category are:
Dusk by Robbie Arnott (Picador Australia, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Australia)
Everything Lost, Everything Found by Matthew Hooton (HarperCollins Publishers)
All the Bees in the Hollows by Lauren Keegan (Affirm Press, a Simon & Schuster Australia company)
One Hundred Years of Betty by Debra Oswald (Allen & Unwin)
When Sleeping Women Wake by Emma Pei Yin (Hachette Australia)
I am Nannertgarrook by Tasma Walton (Bundyi, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Australia)
THE JUDGING PANEL
The judging panel for the Adult Category includes Angelo Loukakis (Chair), Jane Harrison, Rashida Murphy, Stephanie Parkyn and Scott Whitmont.
According to Chair, Angelo Loukakis:
The 2025 Historical Novel Prize, Adult Category, is impressive in its range and quality. History has indeed met imagination once again and the fruits are evident in the number of entries, the spread of settings and time periods, and the variety of accomplished prose styles. This year we have novels that locate their stories in the once Soviet Union and old China, in colonial Australia and sixteenth century Lithuania, and many other societies and times. In the diversity of place and the various ways of rendering the past, we see that historical fiction is alive and well. We also see just why this genre is needed. As much as they entertain, the best of such novels present us with valuable insights into how aspects of past experience have shaped today’s realities – and for better or worse, might continue to influence our futures.
INTRODUCING THE ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL READERS’ CHOICE AWARD
The HNSA is delighted to introduce our inaugural Readers’ Choice Award to give readers an opportunity to vote for their favourite Adult longlisted novel. ARA Group is generously providing prize money of $5,000 to the winner. There is also a chance for voters to win one of two book bundles together with a complimentary online weekend ticket to the History Unbound Festival.
LONGLIST - CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULT CATEGORY
The eight talented authors, and their outstanding novels, selected in the Longlist for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize –Children & Young Adult Category are:
Moonboy by Anna Ciddor (Allen & Unwin)
On Gallant Wings by Helen Edwards (Riveted Press)
The Year We Escaped by Suzanne Leal (HarperCollins Publishers)
Our History: Bold Ben Hall by Sophie Masson (Walker Books)
Hester Hitchins and the Falling Stars by Catherine Norton (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Midwatch by Judith Rossell (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
R.I.P Nanny Tobbins by Lucie Stevens (HarperCollins Publishers)
Desert Tracks by Marly & Linda Wells (Magabala Books)
THE JUDGING PANEL
The judging panel for the CYA Category includes Dr Mark Macleod (Chair), Rebecca Lim and Belinda Murrell.
According to Chair, Dr Mark Macleod:
For the Children's and Young Adults' category, announcing the longlist is an exciting but also painful stage in the judging process. The judges, Rebecca Lim, Mark Macleod and Belinda Murrell, were delighted to have so many young adult books to choose from, but would have liked more options for younger and middle school readers too.
It was of course important that the history be impeccably researched, and that it tell a compelling story, but we were also eager to have the longlist reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community. That said, without blocking anyone's right to use their imagination, we wanted the story to feel that it was the author's to tell, or to be authentic, and it was disappointing to have to decide against including books where borrowing a story from another cultural group meant getting it wrong.
ABOUT ARA GROUP
The ARA Historical Novel Prize has been made possible by the generosity of our Foundation Partner, ARA Group, which is 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, the Monkey Baa Theatre, and the Story Factory– and now as the sponsor of this very significant literary prize.