Longlist announcement: Fremantle Press says the inaugural Fogarty Literary Award attracted a bumper crop of talented new writers
Ten Western Australian writers are longlisted and in the running for one of Australia’s newest and richest literary awards for young writers.
The Fogarty Literary Award is a biennial prize awarded to an unpublished manuscript by a Western Australian author aged between 18 and 35 for a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction or young adult fiction. The winner receives a cash prize of $20,000 and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press.
Fremantle Press publisher and Fogarty Literary Award judge Georgia Richter said she was impressed by the number of entries and the quality of the writing.
Georgia said, ‘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. 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 longlist included two short story collections, two young adult novels and a diverse range of fiction for general readers. The biographies of the longlisted writers highlighted the outstanding job that Western Australia’s creative writing programs, local writing centres, writing groups and local journals were doing in providing avenues for young writers to hone and develop their craft as it was clear that the majority had already received some recognition or support from at least one of these organisations.
Georgia said, ‘A shortlist is currently under consideration and will be released in the coming weeks with the winner announced at a special ceremony on Wednesday 22 May at the ECU Spiegeltent. I want to congratulate everyone who entered. Writing a full length manuscript is no mean feat and something worth celebrating.’
The inaugural Fogarty Literary Award longlist is:
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 inaugural winner of the Fogarty Literary Award will be announced as part of the next Fremantle Press Great Big Book Read at ECU’s Spiegeltent, 6 pm on Wednesday 22 May 2019. Tickets are free but places are limited. RSVP to the event on Eventbrite or by emailing admin@fremantlepress.com.au.
The Fogarty Foundation was established by Brett and Annie Fogarty in 2000 to support and provide educational and leadership opportunities for young people across the spectrum of the Western Australian community. As well as partnering with a range of organisations, the foundation has initiated its own programs that include the UWA Fogarty Scholarship Program, CoderDojo WA and Fogarty EDvance.