Guardian Australia is pleased to announced the 21 writers who have made the longlist of the inaugural Richell prize for emerging writers.
In its first year, the award attracted 975 entries from writers who each submitted three chapters of a manuscript for an unpublished fiction or nonfiction book.
The prize, jointly launched by Hachette Australia, Guardian Australia and the Emerging Writers’ festival, was established in memory of Matt Richell, former chief executive at Hachette, who died in a surfing accident in 2014.
Richell was a big advocate for new writers during his publishing career in the UK and Australia. The winning writer will receive $10,000 and a year’s mentoring from a publisher at Hachette, who will have first option to publish the book.
“Everyone at Hachette Australia is delighted with the breadth of talent that has been uncovered through the nearly 1,000 entries to the inaugural Richell prize for emerging writers,” said Fiona Hazard, Hachette Australia publishing director.
“I can think of no greater tribute to a man who so passionately supported writers and the writing process. I guarantee the judges are going to have their work cut out for them deciding on the winner.”
The judging panel includes author Hannah Richell; Sam Twyford-Moore, former creative director of the Emerging Writers’ festival; bookseller Megan O’Brien from the Potts Point bookshop; Nancy Groves, culture editor at Guardian Australia; and Hachette publisher, Robert Watkins.
The shortlist will be published by Guardian Australia on 21 September and the winner announced at a ceremony in Sydney on 29 October.
The full longlist
- Sally Abbott
- Toni Bartlett
- Alice Bishop
- Lyndel Caffrey
- Jeremy Clarke
- Bronte Coates
- Nicole Crowe
- Andre Dao
- Leah De Forest
- Susie Greenhill
- Elizabeth Kuiper
- Brodie Lancaster
- Dasha Maiorova
- Mia-Francesca McAuslan
- Tim McGuire
- Jonathan O’Brien
- Ellena Savage
- Veronica Sullivan
- Rafael S.W
- Paul Verhoeven
- Jessica Yu
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