Announcing the Shortlists 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 shortlists 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 shortlists are a compelling mix of steam punk, timeslip, adventure, gritty realism, fantasy and black humour. The novels take us from colonial Australia all the way to the moon landing via the 1920’s jazz age, WW2 France and Stalin’s Russia. The lists once again showcase the power of the historical fiction genre to reclaim lost narratives and re-imagine history with various themes of heroism, ancestral connections and folklore.”
The ARA Historical Novel Prize has been made possible through the generous patronage of ARA Group. Founder Edward Federman, says, “I congratulate all the talented authors shortlisted for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize. It is 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.”
The overall prize winner for the Adult category receives $100,000 with an additional $5,000 to be awarded to each of the remaining two shortlisted authors.
The overall prize winner for the Children and Young Adult (CYA) category wins $30,000 with an additional $5,000 to be awarded to each of the remaining two shortlisted authors.
The ARA Historical Novel Prize winners will be announced on Thursday 16 October 2025 at an award ceremony at the Sydney Mint.
SHORTLIST - ADULT CATEGORY
The three talented authors, and their outstanding novels, selected in the Shortlist for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize –Adult Category are:
Dusk by Robbie Arnott (Picador Australia, an imprint of Pan Macmillan 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 adult historical novel prize has acknowledged the diversity of subjects and storytelling techniques in a longlist of quality works and gifted writers. This shortlist now celebrates the individual achievements of three in particular. Authors Tasma Walton, Malcolm Knox and Robbie Arnott each address the question of how to write of ‘that which has been’, the particular past they have chosen, in their own inimitable way. Each knows that the form of the novel allows for different ways of communicating historical truth or truths to readers and that authorial decision-making allows for personal interest, or should. Stylistically different as they are one from the other, these shortlisted titles represent a splendid contribution towards historical remembering rather than forgetting at a moment when this is vital. They also stand as sites of freedom for the storytelling imagination, which is as it should be. Readers expect no less.”
SHORTLIST - CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULT CATEGORY
The three talented authors, and their outstanding novels, selected in the Shortlist for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize –Children & Young Adult Category are:
Moonboy by Anna Ciddor (Allen & Unwin)
The Year We Escaped by Suzanne Leal (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Midwatch by Judith Rossell (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
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:
This year's longlist indicated a generational change in the ways Australian fiction writers have conceived of 'history': from a provincial mindset of the great exploits of outstanding men seeking excitement elsewhere, through a parochial preoccupation with subject matter that was exclusively Australian, to now a more balanced acknowledgment of Australia - including its long First Nations history - in a mutually meaningful international context. Anticipating future developments, the judges noted that 'an international context', however, still means basically European. We encourage writers and their publishers to explore the potentially rich historical narratives of Australians who trace their cultural heritage back to countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, North America, and the Pacific.
Perhaps the fact that this year's shortlist, and most of the longlisted titles, were written by women reflects the move away from patriarchal history. Perhaps, free of conventional hierarchies, women have been able to claim the space of what is historically significant in the increasingly diverse range of Australian lives. Whatever the reason, we encourage writers to explore more diverse modes of storytelling. It would be great to see more historical fiction for junior readers and more novels using illustration to advance the narrative, as one title on the shortlist does.
The strength of this year's shortlist nevertheless points to an exciting future for Australian historical fiction.
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.
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.