Almost half of authors on 2020 Richell Prize longlist are from the AWC community!

One of Australia’s most prestigious novel-writing competitions, the Richell Prize, released its 2020 longlist – and we were thrilled to see so many familiar names on the list from the Australian Writers’ Centre community! 

Out of 800 entries, 22 authors made the longlist. Among some of the names are AWC alumnae Colleen Goth, Lisa Kenway, Zoe Downing, Karli Florisson, Dinuka McKenzie and Louise Surette.

This is an extraordinary achievement and we’re delighted for these talented writers.

From the Emerging Writers Festival website:

The winner will receive $10,000 in prize money, to be donated by Hachette Australia, and a year’s mentoring with one of Hachette Australia’s publishers. Hachette Australia will work with the winning writer to develop their manuscript with first option to consider the finished work, and the shortlisted entries, for publication.

As well as promoting the Prize, The Guardian Australia will publish an extract of the first chapter of the winning work on its website. The prize will also be supported by Simpson Solicitors and Joy.

AWC alumnae Colleen Goth and Zoe Downing have both completed our popular Write Your Novel program so it’s particularly wonderful to see their stories being recognised.

The Richell Prize was set up in 2015 in memory of Matt Richell, CEO of Hachette Australia, and is open to unpublished writers of fiction and creative non-fiction. Matt had been a longtime supporter of emerging writers and he died unexpectedly in 2014.

The complete 2020 Richell Prize longlist:

Kate Clinch-Jones, The Dream Weavers Apprentice
Alice Cook, Sunshine Grey
Brydie Cook, The Meadows
Ellen Cooke, The Fool
Zoe Downing, After the Snow
Phillippa Finkemeyer, Time to Leave
Karli Florisson, Brooksiana
Benjamin Forbes, The Boy Who Wept Rabbits
Hannah Foster, Fortuna
Sarah Frances, Mesophyll
Zahid Gamieldien, The Children
Colleen Goth, Bus Stop at Paradise Beach
Mark Hennessy, Cities of Refuge
Kerry Jewell, Meddies
Lisa Kenway, All You Took From Me
Natalie Laharnar, The Fractured Woman
Scott Limbrick, Flaring Out
Kate Mayne, The River
Dinuka McKenzie, Taken
Josephine Scicluna, Thin House
Aisling Smith, Petrichor
Louise Surette, Your Mess is Mine

Congratulations to all the authors who made the longlist and good luck for the next round. The shortlist will be released on 5 October 2020 and we’ll be watching out for it with excitement.