The Readings Prize

The information on this page pertains to The Readings Prize 2022. For enquiries about the 2021 Young Adult or 2021 New Australian Fiction Prizes, please contact the Prize Manager Gabrielle Williams directly.

About The Readings Prize

First presented in 2014, The Readings Prize continues to support new and outstanding Australian voices across three separate categories of fiction, including Children’s, Young Adult and New Australian Fiction. The Readings Prize is unique in the Australian literary landscape being the only prize currently run by an independent Melbourne bookshop and supporting emerging local voices.

Each year, three prizes are awarded to reflect our judgement of the works that have attained the highest literary merit in their category (and they’re always cracking good reads too!). We look for books that can contribute richness and variety to Australian readers. The Readings Prize offers $9,000 in prize money, which is distributed evenly to the winners of each category ($3,000 per category winner). A shortlist of six books in each category will be announced in August 2022, with the winners to be announced during the month of October (with fanfare!).

Eligible books may be entered throughout the year. There is a $50 entry fee, and four copies of each published work will be submitted for the judging panel. Readings will donate a percentage of all entry fees to The Readings Foundation. Please read the below eligibility criteria before entering a book into The Readings Prize. Once you’re sure the title is eligible, simply nominate the chosen book here. Please put the title of the book and the author’s name in the comments field at checkout, then contact Gabrielle Williams to arrange submission of the reading copies.

Eligibility Guidelines for entering a book into The Readings Prize (all categories)

  • The author must be an Australian citizen or hold permanent residency at the time of entry,
  • The book must be the author’s first or second published work of fiction
  • Eligible books must have been first published between July, 2021 and June, 2022
  • The book must be a full-length novel
  • The work must be published or distributed in Australia by an Australian publisher or the Australian publishing wing of an international publisher as recognised by Readings
  • Entries must be published in English
  • Authors must be living at the date of publication
  • The publisher of the work must be willing to provide 4 reading copies for each title they nominate and more on request, should the book be shortlisted

Additionally, falling under any of the following classifications will render a work as ineligible for entry into The Readings Prize (please read carefully as specific exclusions only apply to certain categories):

  • Works classified as genre fiction (only applicable to the New Fiction prize), memoir, a short story collection, graphic novels (only applicable to the New Fiction prize), and modified-for-younger-readers editions of previously published works
  • Books published only in e-book form
  • Self-published works
  • Authors who are already established in another category as recognised by Readings
  • Books published by authors who are employed by Readings during the judging period for each year
  • Authors who have previously won The Readings Prize

More about the individual prize categories and their 2022 judging panels

The New Australian Fiction Prize

The judges for the New Australian Fiction prize include a panel of select, qualified Readings staff*, one guest judge, and Readings Managing Director, Mark Rubbo. *Judges for the 2022 prize are currently being selected.

The Young Adult Prize

The judges for the current Young Adult Prize include Julia Jackson (Readings Carlton), Ngaire Bogemann (Readings Kids), Mike Shuttleworth (Readings Hawthorn) and Clodagh Robinson-Watts (Readings Carlton).

  • Please note the following additional notes for entry into this category: Graphic novels are eligible for entry into The Young Adult Prize.

The Children’s Prize

The judges for the current Children’s Prize include Lian Hingee (Readings Marketing), Lucie Dess (Readings Marketing), Janine Larson (Readings Online) and Clare McCann-McCall (Readings Hawthorn).

  • Please note the following additional notes for entry into this category: The Readings Children’s Book Prize is open to a work of published fiction, written for children aged 5–12. Picture books and novels for Young Adults are not eligible for this prize. Graphic novels are eligible for entry into The Children’s Prize. Series with multiple books published within a twelve-month period will be considered as one book._

Enquiries

If you are a publisher or an author with an eligible book you’d like to enter, please contact the Prize Manager Gabrielle Williams.