2026 ARA Historical Novel Prize - Longlists announced
HISTORY REWRITTEN IN THE MARGINS AS STRONG HEROINES LEAD 2026 ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL PRIZE
Historical Novel Society Australasia, in partnership with the generous ARA Group, are proud to announce the longlists across two major categories for the 2026 ARA Historical Novel Prize – the richest individual literary prize in Australasia. The chosen books span millennia, from Ancient Egypt through to the 1975 Dismissal, with captivating yarns of jewel heists, bushrangers and gold fever, powerful stories that shine a light on overlooked LGBTQI history, and bewitching tales of sea myths and folklore that centre strong female perspectives.
Allowing readers to time travel through C17th Cornwall and Scotland, Revolutionary France, C19th England, colonial Australia and Aotearoa, WWII France and 1960s New Zealand, the longlist also reimagines historical figures such as Henry Lawson, Alexander Selkirk, Cleopatra and Nancy Wake.
Awarded to novels where the majority of the story is set more than 50 years ago, the Historical Novel Prize recognises Australian and New Zealand historical novelists writing for Adults and Children & Young Adults, with a total prize pool of $155,000.
2026 ADULT CATEGORY
Bernice Barry- The Names of a Hare (Fremantle Press)
Jeffery Buchanan - The Birds Began to Sing (Text Publishing)
Lauren Keegan - The Woman in the Seal Skin (Simon & Schuster Australia)
Lauren Keenan - The Other Catherine (Penguin Random House NZ)
Wayne Marshall - Henry Goes Bush (Picador Australia)
Fiona Kelly McGregor - The Trap (Picador Australia)
Heather Rose - A Great Act of Love (Allen & Unwin)
Allison Rushby - Slashed Beauties (HQ, a division of HarperCollins)
Francesca de Tores - Cast Away (Bloomsbury Publishing)
2026 CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT CATEGORY
Meg Caddy – A Flash in the Dust (University of Queensland Press)
Jackie French – Cleopatra: The Girl who would be King (HarperCollins Australia)
Maria Gill – A Flame in the Dark (One Tree House)
Clare Hallifax – A House Divided (Walker Books Australia)
Lucie Stevens – Nanny Tobbins and the Midnight Plan (HarperCollins Publishers)
Sue Whiting – Hill End Gold (Walker Books Australia)
Judges for the Adult Prize said: “The entries showcased an exhilarating range of historical periods and geographical settings … Often there was a focus on little-known corners of history, revealing fresh insights into the lives of those who came to colonial-era Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, into the lives of those on the other side of the globe, and into queer histories. A number of entries highlighted how easily misconceptions could arise between people of different cultures, and how history could become myth, and myth be presented as fact.”
Judges for the Children & Young Adult Prize said: “The books in the 2026 longlist really stood out for their varied settings…Traversing diverse flashpoints in time, the authors explore them with fresh, engaging perspectives that young readers can relate to. As to theme and atmosphere, it is just as varied, with love, adventure, fear, mystery, controversy and even the odd ghost or two swirling through the stories of these six books that together demonstrate the wide range of historical fiction for young Australians.”
This year’s judging panels comprise industry professionals and prominent historical novelists. The Adult category is chaired by Linda Funnell, with panellists David Whish-Wilson, Renée Otmar, Robyn Cadwallader, and Theresa Smith. The Children & Young Adult category is chaired by Sophie Masson, with panellists Bec Kavanagh and Stacy Gregg.
Also announced today is the opening of the Readers' Choice Award. For the second year running, HNSA newsletter subscribers can vote for their favourite Adult category novel, with the winning author receiving a $5,000 cash prize.
The HNSA Chair, Elisabeth Storrs says: “The 2026 longlists for the ARA Historical Novel Prize once again demonstrate the power of historical novels to bring history to life with themes of love, power, resistance and survival that resonate with modern readers by illuminating forgotten, erased or neglected histories.”
The ARA Historical Novel Prize has been made possible through the generous patronage of ARA Group which is committed to supporting the arts and literature.
Edward Federman, the Executive Chair and CEO of the ARA Group says, “ARA Group are 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 longlisted for the 2026 ARA Historical Novel Prize”
The shortlists will be revealed on 23 September, with the winners announced on 15 October at a ceremony in Sydney.
Previous winners of the ARA Historical Novel Prize include Robbie Arnott’s Dusk and Tasma Walton’s I Am Nannertgarrook (2025), Melissa Lucashenko’s Edenglassie (2024), Gail Jones’ Salonika Burning (2023), Tom Keneally’s Corporal Hitler's Pistol (2022), and YA author and two-time winner Katrina Nannestad’s We Are Wolves and Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief (2021, 2022).
Emily Maguire took home the inaugural Readers' Choice prize in 2025 for her novel, Rapture.