Call for entries: One Western Australian writer has the chance to win a $15,000 cash prize and a publishing contract from the City of Fremantle and Fremantle Press

Submissions for the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award are open. Western Australian writers have just two months to enter the state’s longest running and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript, which offers a cash prize of $15,000 from the City of Fremantle and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press.

Fremantle Press CEO Jane Fraser said for 31 years the biennial Award has provided much-needed stimulus for Western Australian writers. She said, ‘We know our state has an abundance of talent and we know many are working hard at the craft of writing. We also know that the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award has a galvanising effect on local writers, giving them a deadline to work towards and the possibility of realising a lifelong dream.’

Fraser pointed out the award is unique, in that it is judged anonymously. She said, ‘Because we only see your pseudonym, nothing but your writing will be assessed – our judges won’t be looking at your background, your age or your social media influencer score. We just want great stories, well told.’

Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge will announce the winner at a special ceremony at Fremantle Arts Centre in October. Mayor Fitzhardinge said since the City of Fremantle began sponsoring the award, three quarters of all manuscripts shortlisted have been published. She said, ‘The City of Fremantle is proud to sponsor an award that identifies talented new writers and nurtures them in the early stages of their writing careers. Our libraries, bookstores and communities are richer for it.’

The City of Fremantle Hungerford Award is given for a full-length manuscript of fiction or narrative non-fiction by a Western Australian author previously unpublished in book form. Past recipients of the award are Brenda Walker, Gail Jones, Simone Lazaroo, Bruce Russell, Christopher Murray, Nathan Hobby, Donna Mazza, Alice Nelson, Natasha Lester, Jacqueline Wright, Robert Edeson, Madelaine Dickie, Jay Martin, Holden Sheppard and Maria Papas.

This year’s judging panel is Hungerford-winner Natasha Lester, alongside authors and mentors Rashida Murphy, Richard Rossiter, and Fremantle Press publisher Georgia Richter.

Entry is online and the full terms and conditions are available from the Fremantle Press Submittable page, fremantlepress.submittable.com. Entries close at midnight WST on Sunday 20 March 2022.

The City of Fremantle Hungerford Award is proudly sponsored by the City of Fremantle and Fremantle Press.

More information including how to submit is available on the Fremantle Press submittable page: https://fremantlepress.submittable.com/submit.