ARA Historical Novel Prize
The richest individual literary prize in Australia and New Zealand
With prize money of $150,000, the 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 individual prize purse for literature in Australasia. The Prize incorporates both an Adult category and a category for Children and Young Adult (CYA).
ADULT & CYA SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED!
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2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize - Shortlist Announced!
The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA), in conjunction with its generous sponsor ARA Group, is delighted to announce the shortlists for the richest individual literary prize in Australasia with prize monies of $150,000 across the Adult and the Children & Young Adult categories.
HNSA Chair, Elisabeth Storrs, says,“This year’s shortlists are a compelling mix of steam punk, timeslip, adventure, gritty realism, fantasy and black humour. The novels take us from colonial Australia all the way to the moon landing via the 1920’s jazz age, WW2 France and Stalin’s Russia. The lists once again showcase the power of the historical fiction genre to reclaim lost narratives and re-imagine history with various themes of heroism, ancestral connections and folklore.” Read more >
About the Prize
The ARA Historical Novel Prize is the result of a shared vision of the Historical Novel Society Australasia and Edward Federman, Founder, Executive Chair, and CEO of the ARA Group. Since its inception in 2020 the contest has raised the profile of dozens of historical novelists, rewarded the winners, and fostered the genre on a grander scale. Visit Past Prize Winners to learn more.
The ARA Historical Novel Prize has been made possible by the generosity of our Foundation Partner, ARA Group which is committed to supporting the arts and literature. They do this in a number of ways – as a Principal Partner of the Sydney Writers’ Festival, the Melbourne Writers Festival, the National Institute of Dramatic Art, the Monkey Baa Theatre, and the Story Factory– and now as the sponsor of this very significant literary prize.
Important dates
Early bird submissions open: 19 March 2025 at 9 am AEST
Early bird submissions close: 14 May 2025 at midnight AEST
General submissions open: 15 May 2025
Submissions period closes: 11 June 2025 at 5pm AEDT
Longlists announced: 3 September 2025
Shortlists announced: 24 September 2025
Winners announced: 16 October 2025
2025 Prize News
Longlists
Shortlists
Readers’ Choice Award
