Final days to enter the $20,000 Fogarty Literary Award

15 April 202515 April 2025

There are only four days left until the 2025 Fogarty Literary Award closes. Submit your manuscript by midnight on Friday 18 April 2025!

The Fogarty Literary Award is a biennial prize awarded to an unpublished manuscript by a Western Australian author aged between 18 and 35 for a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction, young adult fiction or verse novel. The winner receives a cash prize of $20,000, a publishing contract with Fremantle Press, and a fellowship with the Centre for Stories.

The 2025 award will be judged by Fremantle Press publishers, 2021 Fogarty winner Brooke Dunnell (The Glass House) and Writing Program Coordinator at the Centre for Stories, Camila Egusquiza Santa Cruz.

Since commencing in 2019, 145 manuscripts have been read, and 11 of those shortlisted or longlisted titles have gone on to be published. Several of these have since been acknowledged by major prizes elsewhere, such as A Wreck of Seabirds by Karleah Olson, which was recently named a Shortlisted Book in the Older Readers category of the CBCA Book of the Year Awards.

‘I entered the Fogarty Award with a just-barely-finished manuscript because the timing was right and I felt like I had nothing to lose’, says Karleah. ‘That decision was the start of an absolutely surreal year of change for me, from being shortlisted, attending the Fogarty Award ceremony, working with Fremantle Press, and ultimately seeing A Wreck of Seabirds published and my name in print and on bookshelves. Being a published author has been my dream since I was about six years old, and some days it still doesn’t feel real. I’m so grateful for what entering this award did for me; you never know how close you are to realising a dream!’

The winner will be announced at a free community event at Government House on 3 June 2025. The winning manuscript will be scheduled for publication in 2026, with a 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 Western Australia. 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 Friday 18 April 2025 at midnight. More information and submission guidelines can be found on the Fremantle Press website under submissions.