Last call for entries into the $20,000 Fogarty Literary Award

The Fogarty Foundation and Fremantle Press are pleased to announce that the third round of one of Australia’s most significant literary prizes for young writers is almost over. Entries close at midnight on Tuesday 18 April 2023!

The Fogarty Literary Award is a biennial prize awarded to an unpublished manuscript by a Western Australian author aged between 18 and 35 for a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction or young adult fiction.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.

The 2023 Fogarty Literary Award will be judged by Fremantle Press and 2021 winner Brooke Dunnell whose book The Glass House has been described as ‘evocative’, a psychological mystery’ and ‘compulsively readable domestic noir’.

Brooke said, ‘Though the Fogarty Literary Award has only been offered twice before, it already has a reputation in the WA writing community as a prestigious prize that can help launch a writer’s career.’ She has just signed a second contract with Fremantle Press for a novel to be published in early 2024.

Inaugural winner Rebecca Higgie, whose work The History of Mischief was published in 2020, said, ‘Winning the Fogarty is so much more than a cash prize and publishing contract. Since winning the award, I’ve become part of the writing community. I’ve been booked to speak at festivals, libraries and schools, which makes me feel like I can promote my love of reading, books and libraries to the broader community. I’ve been given so much from the Fogarty, but I also feel like it’s given me the opportunity to give back.’

Since the award commenced in 2019, it has attracted 105 entries, and eight books longlisted or shortlisted have gone on to be published. Several of these have been acknowledged by major prizes elsewhere, including Where the Line Breaks by Michael Burrows which won the Sydney Morning Herald / Age Best Young Novelist Award, and Banjawarn by Joshua Kemp which won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Fiction.

The winner is to be announced at a free community event at the ECU Spiegeltent on 25 May 2023. The winning manuscript will be scheduled for publication in 2024 with an education tour planned to coincide with the book’s release.

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.

Entries for the Fogarty Literary Award will close on Tuesday 18 April 2023. More information and submission guidelines can be found on the Fremantle Press website under submissions.