Penguin Literary Prize 2025 shortlist announced
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has announced the shortlist for the 2025 Penguin Literary Prize.
The shortlisted manuscripts are:
- ‘The Fear of Empty Spaces’ by Rachel Bowman (Brisbane, Qld) – ‘a search for truth and a great unravelling in a remote and hostile environment’
- ‘Bad Medicine’ by Emma Clancey (Sydney, NSW) – ‘a literary thriller set in the hyper-competitive bubble of a prestigious Australian medical school’
- ‘Touch Grass’ by Mary Colussi (Sydney, NSW) – ‘a depressed deletion specialist starts to leave her body at unexpected moments and finds herself at the surreal centre of a global panic’
- ‘Salt’ by Siobhan Dermody (Cairns, Qld) – ‘a story of survival told through the teenage eyes of two Indigenous brothers, […] an exploration of the human spirit in the face of challenges’
- ‘Where the Lotus Rises’ by Samara Lo (Sydney, NSW) – ‘a mythology-infused standalone, Chinese-inspired fantasy’
- ‘So, the Words’ by Denise Raward (Mermaid Beach, Qld) – ‘an exploration of love, loss, family and the haunting grip of secrets’.
Said PRH publisher Meredith Curnow: ‘Travelling from Western Australia at the end of the Second World War to contemporary Sydney, an AI-dominated future to a mythological realm of fantasy, and traversing families, secrets and love, […] readers across all parts of PRH Australia relished their time with the outstanding variety of submissions and have come up with a competitive shortlist that will challenge and entertain the judging panel. Let the reading begin!’
Launched in 2017, the Penguin Literary Prize was established ‘to discover, nurture and develop literary fiction writers, providing a platform for new and diverse voices to emerge’. It offers the winner $20,000 and the opportunity to publish with PRH.
Last year’s winner was Chloe Adams for The Occupation, which is scheduled for publication in July 2025.
The winner of the 2025 prize will be announced on 12 June.
Category: Awards Local news
