ARA Historical Novel Prize increases prize pool to $150,000

The ARA Historical Novel Prize this year will have a prize pool of $150,000, with the winner of the adult category to receive $100,000—making this ‘the richest individual literary prize in Australasia’ according to the organisers.

The prize, which has been running since 2020, is presented by the Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) and sponsored by the ARA Group. This year’s prize pool is a 50% increase on last year’s, which awarded $50,000 to adult category winner Gail Jones for Salonika Burning (Text) and $30,000 to CYA category winner Amelia Mellor for The Bookseller’s Apprentice (Affirm), as well as $5000 each to the shortlistees.

HNSA chair Elisabeth Storrs said the organisation ‘welcomes the opportunity to continue to elevate the genre by rewarding historical novelists with both literary acclaim and a significant tangible benefit’. ‘We are grateful to the ARA Group for its financial support, which will make a life-changing contribution to each winner’s work,’ said Storrs.

The awards are open to novels in which most of the narrative has taken place at least 50 years before publication. Winners for this year’s award will be announced on 17 October. More information about the awards is on the HNSA website.

Category: Awards Local news