Category: Awards

On a morning exploding with pigeons, I fall into a phone conversation with my old friend Kiera as I walk to work. ‘Can we talk about historical fiction?’ I ask. ‘I don’t write historical fiction,’ she says. ‘I write speculative biography.’ Isn’t that the way of writerly research, I think with a sigh: you push […]

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 The Fogarty Literary Award is a biennial prize awarded to an unpublished manuscript by a Western Australian author […]

The Last Light Horse by Dianne Wolfer and Backyard Beasties by Helen Milroy have been recognised as Notable Books in their respective categories in the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year Awards. Backyard Beasties is a Notable book in the Early Childhood category. Both written and illustrated by Professor Helen Milroy – […]

During my thirty-five years as a published writer and thirty years as a teacher of creative writing at various universities, I’ve read several articles by creative writers, writing teachers or editors who say that starting to write a new story is the hardest part. But for me, beginning a story comes relatively easily. Almost always, […]

Two Fremantle Press books and five Fremantle Press writers are in the running to win the award for fan favourite! Stellarphant by James Foley and Mel and Shell by Julia Lawrinson both made the shortlist, alongside books by fellow Fremantle Press writers Cristy Burne, Sean E. Avery and HM Waugh. To find out more or […]

Stars in Their Eyes creators Aśka and Jessica Walton, and Stellarphant creator James Foley are over the moon about their latest news. All three celebrated their books making it onto the Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book list. Plus, all three are thrilled to announce American publications. Stellarphant will be published in the USA […]

Cristy Burne’s book, Off the Track, has been voted WA’s favourite book by the state’s young readers. Cristy beat out the Wimpy Kid, David Walliams, Tom Gates and Ahn Do to take the 2022 West Australian Young Readers Book Award for Younger Readers. Some 26,000 votes were cast by WA readers across four categories. Cristy […]

Beneath the trees and scenic lighting of the Fremantle Arts Centre, we awaited the announcement of the winner of the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award, while hearing from 18 Fremantle Press authors pitching their newly published books. Our witty MCs and authors, Helen Milroy and Holden Sheppard, opened the evening followed by an Acknowledgement […]

One of my favourite features of novels – and one that makes the art form different to many others – is their ability to take on the perspectives, words and thoughts of a fictional character. As readers, we feel the intimacy of being told a story and enjoy the benign voyeurism of having a window […]

Fremantle author Molly Schmidt has won the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award for her manuscript Salt River Road. She takes home a $15,000 cash prize and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press. Judged anonymously, the biennial prize is in its 32nd year and is presented to an emerging West Australian writer for their first […]

I live on a rural bush retreat in Western Australia’s Great Southern region, and have been writing stories obsessively since childhood. After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing at Curtin University, my short fiction began to win or be placed in writing competitions, with a number being published in various journals and anthologies […]

Gerard McCann grew up in Cottesloe in the 1950s and 60s, the second of five boys. Staunch Catholicism had the boys on their knees at night and Sunday mornings, but otherwise running free, exploring and adventuring in the streets and neighbouring gardens. He studied Architecture at the Perth Tech and UWA, and specialised in heritage […]

Entranced by the power of words from birth, Marie O’Rourke spent many years reading, analysing and teaching the stories of others before working up the nerve to start shaping her own. Her writing pushes against the tradition of first-person, past-tense, chronological, narrative memoir, hoping to capture the shape-shifting nature of memory and identity. Marie’s essays […]

Molly Schmidt is a writer and journalist, currently undertaking the Four Centres Emerging Writers Program with Fremantle Press. By day, she works as a radio producer and reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where her passion for storytelling is put to good use. While writing her first manuscript, Molly has been collaborating with Noongar Elders […]

Joy Kilian-Essert, Gerard McCann, Marie O’Rourke and Molly Schmidt are in the running for $15,000 in prize money from the City of Fremantle and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press. All four Western Australian writers were shortlisted for the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award, which is in its 32nd year. Fremantle Press Publisher Georgia […]

Eleven Western Australian writers are longlisted and in the running for the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award. Judged anonymously, the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award is a biennial prize awarded to an unpublished manuscript by a Western Australian author for a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction or young adult fiction. The winner receives a cash […]

Stellarphant has won Picture Book of the Year in the inaugural Children’s Book Council of Australia Sun Project Shadowers’ Choice Awards. A week to the day from being named a CBCA Honour Book, the little elephant that could has rocketed into the top spot as voted by young readers. James Foley thanked the CBCA for […]

Writer and two-time Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Professor Kim Scott from the Faculty of Humanities at Curtin University has been awarded the title John Curtin Distinguished Professor. Introduced in 2005, the title is for exceptional teaching and research skills, or scholarly, creative or artistic achievements. In a media release on the Curtin University website, […]

Nandi Chinna has won the Western Australian Writer’s Fellowship as part of the Western Australian Premier’s Prize.

Twelve Fremantle Press writers have been shortlisted in the 2021 WA Premier’s Book Awards across four categories; three authors have made it onto the Speech Pathology Award Shortlist and two are shortlisted in the Comic Arts Awards of Australia 2021 WA Premier’s Book Awards In the emerging writers category, the novels Eye of a Rook […]

Three Fremantle Press titles are in the running for major awards and another has been highly commended, plus the life’s work of a Fremantle Press writer has been remembered and recognised. Stellarphant is shortlisted for the 2022 Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Picture Book of the Year and the 2021 Aurealis Award for Best Children’s […]

Twelve Fremantle Press writers have been shortlisted in the 2021 WA Premier’s Book Awards across four categories. In the emerging writers category, the novels Eye of a Rook by Josephine Taylor and Locust Summer by David Allan-Petale, and the poetry collection Vociferate by Emily Sun, made the shortlist. In The Premier’s Prize for Writing for […]