Hachette Australia, along with Hannah Richell and the Richell family, and in partnership with the Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) and Simpsons Solicitors, is delighted to announce the longlisted writers for the 2026 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers.

The twenty-four Richell Prize longlisted writers for 2026 are:

• Chloe Anne, The House Where Mercy Died
• Lazio Akbar, Resonance: The Archive of Silences
• Noor Ahmed, Dhaka, Written in Skin
• Kirsty Anantharajah, Ila
• Arden Baker, On Winds Fair and Fast
• Rhea Cai, Decoherence
• Rachel Coutinho, Rani's Choice
• Tracey-Lee Daranjo, A Long Forgetting
• Travis Englefield, August Kennedy
• Farrin Foster, The Same House
• Euri Glenn, Harvest
• Lucas Grainger-Brown, Ursong
• Mike Boynes, Moola Bulla
• Nalini Jacob-Roussety, Old Arts
• KT Major, Peril
• Magz Morgan, Ethel's War
• Meagan Neil, In the Keeping of Women
• Anthony Nicola, Pousti
• Harriet Radford, Blue Moon 3
• Jonno Revanche, The Sky Looks Bigger in Other Places
• Hattie Salmon, Webs
• Madeleine Speed, Excellent Behaviour
• Carielyn Tunion, Aswang
• Gillian Worrall, Exhibit A for Althea

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, 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 2026 includes Jane Turner, Bookseller and Owner of Gertrude & Alice bookstore; Simon McDonald, Fiction Buyer from Dymocks; Cindy Manfong, the Publishing Projects Editor at Indigenous Literacy Foundation; Vanessa Radnidge, Head of Literary and Non-Fiction at Hachette Australia; and Hannah Richell, bestselling author. Hachette Australia Publishing Director Joel Naoum is chairing the judging panel.

Vanessa Radnidge, Head of Non-Fiction & Literary at Hachette, says, ‘Congratulations to all the longlisted writers. This year we had 1022 entries into the prize, and the calibre of entries was impressive. To see so many writers back themselves and enter the Prize means the award is doing exactly what we had hoped, honouring the memory of former Hachette CEO Matt Richell and supporting and encouraging emerging writers. Everyone at Hachette, along with the Richell family, is proud to present this prize and we are enormously grateful to the team at EWF and to the prize entry readers, who help to make it all happen. Thank you to everyone who entered this year and congratulations again to the twenty-four longlisted writers.’

Anita Solek, EWF Richell Prize Project Coordinator, says, ‘Receiving over 1000 entries this year left us with an enormous task when deciding who to longlist, and to honour the effort of this incredible community of writers, we’ve decided to extend the longlist to twenty-four this year. Thank you to the readers who helped us create the longlist and to the writers who submitted, sharing your work with us is already a huge step in your publication journey. There is undeniable passion and talent brewing in these entries, may we all one day be lucky enough to read the books that you have dreamed of and brought to life.’