The Richell Prize

The Richell Prize was established in 2014 by Hachette Australia in partnership with The Guardian Australia and The Emerging Writers Festival to assist emerging writers who are looking to take the next step in their career. Offered annually, the Prize is open to unpublished writers of adult fiction and adult narrative non-fiction. Writers do not need to have a full manuscript at the time of submission, though they must intend to complete one. The Prize will be judged on the first three chapters of the submitted work, along with a synopsis outlining the direction of the proposed work and details about how the author’s writing career would benefit from winning the Prize.

The winner will receive $10,000 in prize money, to be donated by Hachette Australia, along with a 12-month mentorship with one of Hachette Australia’s publishers. Hachette Australia will work with the winning writer to develop their manuscript with first option to consider the finished work and shortlisted entries for publication. As well as promoting the Prize, The Guardian Australia will publish an extract of the first chapter of the winning work on its website.

The Prize has also been made possible through the support of Simpsons Solicitors and Joy. The Emerging Writers’ Festival involvement in this Prize has been sponsored by Simpsons Solicitors.

The Richell Prize was established in memory of Hachette Australia's CEO, Matt Richell, who died suddenly in 2014.

About the Mentorship with Hachette

The winner will receive a 12-month mentorship with a publisher at Hachette Australia. The format of this will depend on the winning writer but you can expect to receive an assessment of the three chapters that you’ve submitted, feedback on your writing style, a discussion around who your target audience might be and regular phone calls to check in on your writing progress. Your mentor will read your work at regular intervals. While Hachette is not offering a publication deal as part of the Prize we’d love to mentor the winner through to a stage where we both feel comfortable discussing publication opportunities.

For more information about the prize and how to enter, please visit The Emerging Writers' Festival website.

2015 WINNER

2015 SHORTLISTED

2017 SHORTLISTED

2017 WINNER

2018 SHORTLISTED