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  New England Writers' Centre
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Australasian Literary Historical Novel Prize

Australia’s leading infrastructure and facilities service provider ARA Group has partnered with The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) to create a new major literary prize for an outstanding historical novelist. The new ARA Historical Novel Prize gives Australian and New Zealand historical novelists the chance to be recognised in a class of their own, with the most significant prize money for any genre-based prize in Australasia. 
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The New England Writers' Centre is proud to have been associated with the inaugural Historical Novel Prize, as part of the Prize sub-committee and in the administration of entries.
Click here to read about Miranda Riwoe and Stone Sky Gold Mountain.
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Watch the official winner announcement here

ANNOUNCEMENT DATES

Opened 1 May 2020 and closed for submissions on 30 June 2020
Longlist announced: 7th October
Shortlist announced: 28th October
Winner announced: 10th November
Media Release Historical Novel Prize.pdf
File Size: 209 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Long List backgrounds.pdf
File Size: 910 kb
File Type: pdf
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Long List Author quotes
File Size: 117 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


BACKGROUND to the 2020 Inaugural Historical Novel Prize
ARA Group Founder, Executive Chair and Managing Director Ed Federman said as a patron of historical literature, he was honoured to partner with HNSA to launch ARA Group’s first-of-its-kind major literary prize. “ARA Group has been involved in advocating for and celebrating the arts for many years through our Principal Partnership of the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Monkey Baa Theatre, the National Institute of Dramatic Art, and our workplace giving program, the ARA Endowment Fund. We are hopeful this prize will have a profound impact on the life of the winning author in this increasingly popular genre, and create a lasting legacy. It’s important we help foster the arts in Australasia not only to enrich people’s lives, creating a culture of reading and writing, but also to ensure our stories and history live on.” he said.

Applications are open to all authors — whether traditionally or self-published — who are residents or citizens of Australia or New Zealand, with books published between 1 January 2019 and 30 June 2020. Entries may be submitted by authors, publishers and agents.

HNSA Chair and Author Elisabeth Storrs said the award recognises and rewards authors with both literary acclaim and a tangible benefit. “After building a community of writers, readers and publishing professionals over our past three biennial conferences, the HNSA is delighted to be given the chance to raise the profile of a genre that values creativity, authenticity and discovery,” she said. “We are grateful to the ARA Group for its financial support, which will make a substantial contribution to the winner’s work.”
ARA Group and HNSA are also pleased to gain the assistance of the New England Writers’ Centre (NEWC), based in Armidale NSW, which will administer the submission process. Author and Chair of NEWC, Sophie Masson, said: “As a dynamic regional arts organisation in an area rich in literary history, the New England Writers’ Centre has always supported great writing and opportunities for writers. We are absolutely delighted to be involved in the inauguration of such a major new fiction prize, which will highlight the strength of a most exciting and diverse genre.”

The definition of the genre set for the prize will ensure a breadth of talented writers is eligible to enter. Historical fiction will be defined as a novel written at least 50 years after the events described, or by an author not alive at the time of the events described, who therefore must approach those events only through research.

More information about the prize can be found at www.hnsa.org.au/ara-historical-novel-prize.
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We gratefully acknowledge the support of Create NSW and our other generous sponsors
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which the New England Writers' Centre is situated and pay our respects to Aboriginal Elders past, present and emerging.
  • Home
  • Program
    • 2021 Summer Micro Grants
    • Managing your creative business
    • On Point: finding a fresh perspective
    • Scriptwriting 101
    • Writing Romantic Thrillers
    • Inside Story
    • Short Story Crit Clinic
    • Life Writing
    • Structure & plotting when writing for children
    • Rural Crime Writing Festival
    • Discover your illustration style
    • The Illustrated Story
    • Editing Your Manuscript
    • Self-publishing with InDesign
    • Self-publishing & The Indie Author
    • Writing super creative kidlit
    • Your Creative Body
    • Beyond the Rules of Writing
    • Researching and writing Historical Fiction
  • ARA Historical Novel Prize
  • Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing
  • Illustration Prize for children's picture book illustration
  • Varuna-NEWC Fellowship
  • About
    • Our Board
    • Our Sponsors
  • Membership
  • Contact Us
  • 2020 Archive
    • Thunderbolt Prize 2020 >
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2020 Judges Reports
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2020_Winning submissions
    • Illustration Prize 2020 Winners
    • Varuna Fellowship 2020
    • 2020 Historical Novel Prize >
      • About the judges
  • Resources
    • Inside Story Book
    • By The Book video series
    • Stories Connect
    • Blog
    • Useful links!