This is the tenth year of the prestigious Richell Prize with entries open to unpublished writers of adult fiction and adult narrative non-fiction. Writers do not need to have a full manuscript at the time of submission, though they must intend to complete one. The Prize will be judged on the first three chapters of the submitted work, along with a synopsis outlining the direction of the proposed work and detail about how the author’s writing career would benefit from winning the Prize.
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.
To date, Hachette has published or contracted ten authors who have been discovered through this annual Prize, including Sally Abbott (2015 winner), Brodie Lancaster (2015 shortlist), Sam Coley (2017 winner), Julie Keys (2017 shortlist), Ruth McIver (2018 winner), Mandy Beaumont (2018 shortlist), Zaheda Ghani (2018 shortlist), Allee Richards (2019 shortlist), Aisling Smith (2020 winner) and Simone Amelia Jordan (2021 winner).
Hachette Australia and Hannah Richell would like to thank the Emerging Writers’ Festival for partnering with them to make this Prize a reality and thank Simpsons Solicitors for assisting them financially with the administration of the Prize.
The Richell Prize was established in memory of Hachette Australia’s CEO, Matt Richell, who passed away in 2014. This Prize brings together a group of people who know the huge amount of support that Matt Richell dedicated to emerging writers. Without the writers, there would be no Prize – so be brave and submit your work.
For more information, visit emergingwritersfestival.org.au
