The Hope Prize is open for entries for its second year.

The Hope Prize is the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s national short story competition. It encourages writers to explore stories of resilience in the face of poverty and disadvantage, and to look beyond stereotypes to depict the strengths that people and communities show in dealing with hardship.

Readings was a proud supporter of the inaugural Prize last year, and we’re so thrilled to see it return. Last year the Brotherhood received over 1,000 entries, and volunteers from the Brotherhood, Readings and RMIT’s Professional Writing and Editing course read through these powerful, diverse range of entries to create a longlist. Staff at publisher Simon & Schuster then selected the shortlist from the longlist, which was presented to the final judges – Cate Blanchett, Quentin Bryce and Kate Grenville. In exciting news, all three original judges will be returning for this year’s Prize.

Simon & Schuster were so impressed by what was on offer last year that they published the wonderful Hope: An Anthology, which featured the winning and shortlisted stories and gained a wide readership.

The total prize pool for this year’s Prize is $17, 500, and in a new venture supported by the Readings Foundation, two Women’s Writing Career Development Scholarships – of $5,000 each – will also be awarded.

Authors must be Australian residents and entries must be between 2,000 and 5,000 words. The closing date for entries is January 31, 2018.

You can find out more about The Hope Prize here.