ASA/HQ Fiction Prize 2026 shortlist announced
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and HarperCollins publishing division HQ have announced the shortlist for the 2026 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript.
The shortlisted works, chosen from 280 entries, are:
- “Querencia” by Jillian Britton
- “Best Served Cold” by Sonya Gellert
- “All the Little Wide Worlds” by Karen Howie Casey
- “The Dark Angels’ Book Club” by Johanna Skinner.
The winner will receive a publishing contract with HQ, with a $10,000 advance against royalties. The runner-up will receive $500 and a year’s membership with the ASA.
HQ publisher Rachael Donovan, who judged the award alongside ABIA-shortlisted author Angie Faye Martin, bookseller Erica Rist, HQ head of publishing Jo Mackay and HQ commissioning editor Zoe Walton, said “the array of voices and ideas in this year’s submissions were more impressive than ever”.
The ASA/HQ Fiction Prize, previously called the ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize, is a biennial award. It was first presented in 2020 to Sally Bothroyd for Brunswick Street Blues, published in 2022. It was awarded in 2022 to Ayesha Inoon for Untethered, published in June 2023. The 2024 winner was Kathleen Hastings for the manuscript “Hendrickje, Rembrandt’s Bathsheba”. Donovan told Books+Publishing the decision to drop “commercial” from the award name reflected “the broadening of the HQ list”.
Announcing the shortlist, HarperCollins said “entering the prize also led to the successful publication of 3 shortlisted authors”: Arianne James with the upcoming novel Daughters of the Tide (July 2026); Kathy George with Sargasso (2021); and Stella Quinn’s The Vet from Snowy River, published in 2021. “Both Kathy George and Stella Quinn have gone on to publish multiple novels with HQ and have new novels due out in 2027,” said the publisher.
The winner of the ASA/HQ Fiction Prize will be announced on 13 May.
Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions
