Longlist announced for inaugural Fogarty Literary Award
Fremantle Press has announced the longlist for the inaugural Fogarty Literary Award, an unpublished manuscript award for young writers in Western Australia, worth $20,000.
The longlisted manuscripts are:
- ‘Where the Line Breaks’ by Michael Peregrine Burrows
- ‘No Answer’ by Alex Dook
- ‘The Shapes’ by Mel Hall
- ‘S to Z’ by Belinda Hermawan
- ‘The History of Mischief’ by Rebecca Higgie
- ‘Jeffrey’ by Will Jacobs
- ‘In the Shadow of Burringurrah’ by Joshua Kemp
- ‘Home Invasion’ by Benjamin Mason
- ‘The Absurdity of Being Nothing’ by Nanci Nott
- ‘The Last Bookstore’ by Emma Young.
The biennial prize is awarded to an unpublished manuscript by a Western Australian author aged between 18 and 35 for a work of fiction, narrative nonfiction or young adult fiction. The winner receives a cash prize of $20,000 and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press.
The inaugural longlist includes two short story collections, two YA novels and ‘a diverse range of fiction for general readers’, according to the publisher.
Fremantle Press publisher and award judge Georgia Richter said she was impressed by the number of entries in the prize’s first year. ‘We received 64 manuscripts, which I think is an extraordinary number given the award is only in its first year and is available exclusively to Western Australian writers who are still under 35,’ said Richter. ‘We thought the pool would be smaller so the past couple of months have been a challenge with the publishing team reading day and night, as soon as each manuscript arrived, in order to assess their suitability for our list.’
The prize is a partnership between the publisher and social-purpose organisation the Fogarty Foundation, which provides educational and leadership opportunities for young people in WA. The foundation has committed to supporting the prize for the first six years.
The winner of the inaugural Fogarty Literary Award will be announced as part of the next Fremantle Press Great Big Book Read at Edith Cowan University’s Spiegeltent, on 22 May.
Category: Awards Local news
