The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) has announced the shortlists for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize. This year’s shortlisted titles are:
ADULT CATEGORY
CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT CATEGORY
The award offers a total prize pool of $100,000. The two winners will be announced on the 19th of October. The adult category winner will receive $50,000 and the children and young adult category winner will receive $30,000, while other shortlisted authors will receive $5,000 each. The shortlists were chosen from longlists announced earlier this month.
The ARA Historical Novel Prize was established in 2020 and is open to historical fiction books from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Last year’s winners were Tom Keneally (adult category, Corporal Hitler’s Pistol, Penguin) and Katrina Nannestad (children and young adult category, Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief, ABC Books). Nannestad also won the children and young adult category of the prize in 2021.
This year’s judging panel includes Robert Gott, Renée Otmar and Lucy Treloar for the adult category, as well as Christopher Cheng, Craig Cormick and Lauren Keenan for the children and YA category.
