2026 ARA Historical Novel Prize - shortlists announced
WOMENS’ AND QUEER HISTORIES ARE RECLAIMED ON THE 2026 ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL PRIZE SHORTLIST
The 6 novels shortlisted for Australasia’s richest individual literary prize centre strong female perspectives and write overlooked characters back into history
The shortlist for the 2026 ARA Historical Novel Prize has been announced today, with all six novels authored by women and non-binary writers. The shortlisted titles shine a light on overlooked perspectives spanning ancient Egypt, colonial Aotearoa and Australia, 1940s Sydney and the 1975 Canberra Dismissal – reclaiming the stories of those typically peripheral to history; including women and children, First Peoples and queer Australians.
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.
The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) announced the shortlist across two major categories:
2026 ADULT CATEGORY
Bernice Barry - The Names of a Hare
Lauren Keenan - The Other Catherine
Fiona Kelly McGregor - The Trap
2026 CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT CATEGORY
Meg Caddy – A Flash in the Dust
Jackie French – Cleopatra: The Girl who would be King
Claire Hallifax – A House Divided
Judges for the Adult Prize said: “The best historical fiction wears its research lightly while immersing the reader in another time and place. Each of these shortlisted novels does just that, displaying deep understanding and insight into its period, and the particular challenges its characters face. Spanning seventeenth-century Cornwall, a convict ship sailing from Ireland to New South Wales, nineteenth-century Aotearoa, and 1940s Sydney, together they provide a snapshot of the strength, diversity, and quality of the historical fiction being written and published across Australasia. Their characters are fresh, vital and complex human beings whose stories encompass themes that continue to resonate today: prejudice and survival, belief versus reality, and the importance of connection.”
Judges for the Children & Young Adult Prize said: “The three books on the 2026 CYA shortlist cover not only a wide span of history--Ancient Rome and Egypt, 19th century Western Australia and 1970’s Canberra—but also a wide reading age range, with junior fiction, middle-grade fiction and young adult fiction all represented. Each novel, whilst being very different, offers a compelling story, a fascinating historical background and well-drawn characters, plunging the reader into their worlds, whether it be far away in time or much closer, and bringing young people firmly into the foreground of history, both well-known and more hidden. Together, these three finalists vividly represent the breadth, richness and relevance of the historical novel for young readers of all ages.”
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.
The HNSA Chair, Elisabeth Storrs says: “The 2026 shortlists 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 shortlisted for the 2026 ARA Historical Novel Prize”
The winner will be 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.