Now in its tenth year, Hachette Australia, along with the Richell family, and in partnership with the Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) and Simpsons Solicitors, is delighted to announce the longlist for the 2024 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers.

The twenty-one Richell Prize longlisted writers for 2024 are:

• Averil Robertson
• Becca Wang
• Billy Stevenson
• Caroline Lee
• Chloe Hillary
• Claire Bennett
• Danielle Ringrose
• Hayley Elliott-Ryan
• Hollen Singleton
• Jehan Loza
• Mariam Tokhi
• Mary Colussi
• Matt Freeman
• Molly Hoogland
• Myles McGuire
• Oanh Dang
• Rebecca Douglas
• Rod Mackay
• Ruth Estelle
• Tzeyi Koay
• Michelle Hyde

The writers on this longlist will be judged on the first three chapters of their submitted work, along with a synopsis outlining the direction of the proposed work and details about how their writing career would benefit from winning the Prize. The winner will receive $10,000, donated by the Richell family, along with a 12-month mentorship with one of the publishers. Hachette will work with the winning writer to develop their manuscript, with the first option to consider the finished work for publication.

The judging panel for 2024 includes Lindy Jones, from Abbey’s Bookshop; Bianca Valentino, editor and writer; Anjelica Rush, from the Avenue Book Shop; Vanessa Radnidge, Head of Literary at Hachette Australia; and Hannah Richell, bestselling author.

Vanessa Radnidge, Head of Literary at Hachette, says, ‘This is the tenth year of the Richell Prize, a prize put in place to honour the memory of former Hachette CEO Matt Richell. The fact that we had over 1000 entries shows how important the Richell Prize is to emerging writers. We are all so proud of the impact the Prize has on the development and acknowledgement of literary talent and thank every single writer who had the courage to enter their work. Every year the quality of entries is impressive and this year the standard was exceptionally high. Everyone at Hachette, along with the Richell family, is delighted to present this Prize, and we are immensely grateful to EWF who help to make it happen. Congratulations to the twenty-one longlisted writers.’

Hasib Hourani, EWF Richell Prize Manager, says, ‘With nearly double the number of entries we received for the prize last year, whittling the pieces down to a longlist was no small feat. One comment remained consistent between the readers this year: the strong calibre of writing was unprecedented, which makes me really excited for the future of literature across the continent and the writers and titles that will surely be breaking out off of the back of this prize.’

The Prize shortlist will be announced on 17 October, with the winner announced on 27 November.

ABOUT THE RICHELL PRIZE

Hachette Australia, together with the Richell family, established The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers in 2015 in partnership with Guardian Australia and the Emerging Writers Festival (EWF) along with support from Simpsons Solicitors. The Prize was launched in memory of Hachette Australia’s CEO, Matt Richell, who died suddenly in July 2014. This is the tenth year of the Richell Prize and it has become an important prize in the development of Australian writers.  

ABOUT HACHETTE

Hachette Australia has a growing Australian list with around 100 new titles now published each year. The stellar line-up of local authors includes bestselling two-time Gold Dagger winner and ABIA Fiction winner Michael Robotham; bestselling and award-winning ABIA Book of the Year winner Jessica Townsend; Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks; Australia’s bestselling non-fiction writer and favourite storyteller Peter FitzSimons; New York Times bestselling novelist Natasha Lester; Miles Franklin shortlisted Michael Mohammed Ahmad; and the Lothian Children’s Books author and illustrator and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner Shaun Tan. Hachette Australia proudly supports emerging writers of all ages through The Richell Prize, in association with the Emerging Writers’ Festival; the State Library of Queensland’s black&write! program; and in partnership with Express Media, The Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers. Hachette Australia also represents an array of A-list authors on the international list including Stephen King, Nora Roberts, John Grisham, J.K. Rowling, Ronan Farrow and Delia Owens.