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Competitions and programs (105)

2018 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

22 December 2017 Written by Hidden Author

ABR is delighted to announce Madelaine Lucas as the overall winner of the 2018 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for her story ‘Ruins’. Madelaine Lucas receives $7,000.

Sharmini Aphrodite was placed second for her story 'Between the Mountain and the Sea' and Claire Aman placed third for her story 'Vasco'.  We would like to congratulate all three shortlisted entrants and thank all those who entered their stories in the Jolley Prize.

pdfMedia release

This year the prestigious ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize Prize attracted almost 1,200 entries from around the world. The 2018 Jolley Prize is worth a total of $12,500, with a first prize of $7,000 and supplementary prizes of $2,000 and $1,000. The judges were Patrick Allington, Michelle Cahill, and Beejay Silcox. The three shortlisted stories appear in our August issue.

The judges also commended three other stories: ‘Joan Mercer’s Fertile Head’ by S.J. Finn (Vic.), ‘Hardflip’ by Mirandi Riwoe (QLD), and ‘Break Character’ by Chloe Wilson (Vic.). The commended authors each receive $850.

About the 2018 Jolley Prize shortlisted authors

Jolley shortlistClaire Aman (photograph by Ravi Watt-Nersesian), Sharmini Aphrodite (photograph by Verkur), Madelaine Lucas

 

Claire Aman grew up in Melbourne and settled in Grafton, New South Wales.Text published her short story collection, Bird Country, in 2017. Her stories have been published in Australian journals and anthologies and have won the E.J. Brady, Wet Ink and Hal Porter prizes. In 2011 her story ‘Milk Tray’ was shortlisted for the Jolley Prize. Her early writing life was nurtured by Varuna.

Sharmini Aphrodite was born in Borneo in 1995 and grew up in the sister cities of Singapore and Johor Bahru. Previously published in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal and Smokelong Quarterly, she was runner-up for her art criticism in Frieze Magazine’s Art Writing Prize, as well as in the Golden Point Awards.

Madelaine Lucas is an Australian writer and musician based in Brooklyn,New York. She is the senior editor of NOON literary annual and a teaching fellow at Columbia University, where she is completing her MFA in fiction. She has been the winner of the Overland/Victoria University Short Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the Griffith University Josephine Ulrick Literature Prize. She is currently at work on her first novel.

The 2018 Jolley Prize longlist

‘Hoofman’ by Tiffany Allan (New Zealand)
‘Vasco’ by Claire Aman (NSW) – Shortlisted
‘Between the Mountain and the Sea’ Sharmini Aphrodite (Singapore) – Shortlisted
‘La selva obscura’ by Faye Brinsmead (ACT)
‘The Great Explorer has never seen anything equal to this land in his life’ by Craig Cormick (ACT)
‘Katterzems’ by Joel Ephraims (NSW)
‘Joan Mercer's Fertile Head’ by S.J. Finn (Vic.) – Commended
‘Zohira’ by Michelle Hamadache (NSW)
‘Ruins’ by Madelaine Lucas (NSW/USA) – Winner
‘The Art of Waving’ by Andrea Macleod (QLD)
‘Hardflip’ by Mirandi Riwoe (QLD) – Commended
‘Find Me This Place’ by Ben Walter (Tas.)
‘Break Character’ by Chloe Wilson (Vic.) – Commended
‘All We Need to See’ by Michelle Wright (Vic.)


Please read the Frequently Asked Questions page before contacting us with queries about the Jolley Prize.

Click here for more information about past winners and to read their stories

ABR gratefully acknowledges Mr Ian Dickson's generous support for the Jolley Prize.

2018 Jolley Prize Judges

22 December 2017 Written by Hidden Author

Patrick AllingtonPatrick Allington was the recipient of the inaugural ABR Patrons’ Fellowship. His novel, Figurehead (Black Inc. 2009), was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. His short fiction and book criticism appears in Australian newspapers, magazines, and journals, including regularly in ABR. Patrick Allington was one of the judges of the 2014 Jolley Prize. He is a Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at Flinders University.

 

 

Michelle Cahill 2017 Photo credit Nicola BaileyMichelle Cahill's short story collection Letter to Pessoa won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for New Writing and was shortlisted in the Steele Rudd Award. She won the Hilary Mantel International Short Story Prize and her story  'Borges and I' placed second in the 2015 Jolley Prize. Her poetry and essays appear in the Forward Book of Poetry, 2018 and The Australian Face: Essays from the Sydney Review of Books. She edits Mascara Literary Review.

 

 

Beejay Silcox Elizabeth Richelle photography

Beejay Silcox is an Australian writer and literary critic. She recently completed her MFA in the United States, and is currently working on her first collection of short stories. Her award-winning short fiction has been published at home and internationally, including in Meanjin, The Masters Review, The Southeast Review and ABR. Her story ‘Slut Trouble’ was commended in the 2016 Jolley Prize and republished in The Best Australian Stories 2017.

2018 Calibre Essay Prize

02 October 2017 Written by Australian Book Review

Lucas Grainger Brown Calibre Essay Prize winnerLucas Grainger-Brown is the winner of the twelfth Calibre Essay Prize – Australia’s most prestigious essay prize. The judges – novelist Andrea Goldsmith, NewSouth Executive Publisher Phillipa McGuinness, and ABR Editor Peter Rose – chose Lucas’s essay ‘We Three Hundred’ from a field of over 200 essays submitted from thirteen countries. Lucas receives $5,000, and his essay appears in the April 400th issue of Australian Book Review.

This winner of the second prize, worth $2,500, is Kirsten Tranter. Her essay, entitled ‘Once Again’, will be published in an upcoming issue.

About Lucas Grainger Brown
Lucas Grainger-Brown joined the Australian Defence Force as a high school student. Subsequently he worked as a management consultant. He is a researcher, tutor, and doctoral candidate at The University of Melbourne. Philosophy and politics are his enduring passions. He has published commentary, essays, and fiction across numerous media. He first wrote for ABR in 2016.

About Kirsten Tranter
Kirsten Tranter lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the author of three novels, including Hold (2016), longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. She completed a PhD in English Literature at Rutgers University in 2008, and publishes essays, journalism, and literary criticism. She is a founder of the Stella Prize for Australian women’s writing.

Longlisted entries

Judith Bishop (VIC)
‘O Brave New World, That Has Such Data In’t (Love and Self-Understanding in an Algorithmic Age)’

Sally Kerry Fox (UK)
‘The Lives We Leave Behind’

David M. A. Francis (VIC)
‘Between Joy and Sorrow: A Journey of the Hands’

Karen Holmberg (US)
‘The Very Worst Ache Is Not Knowing Why: Remembering Mme. Cluny’

Jack Jeweller (NSW)
‘Wings with Words’

Daryl Li (Singapore)
‘Metamorphoses’

Lea Zusmanovicha (VIC)
‘The Tails of Blankets’

Click here for more information about past winners and to read their essays.

We look forward to offering the Calibre Essay Prize again in 2019. 

We gratefully acknowledge the long-standing support of Mr Colin Golvan QC and the ABR Patrons.

2018 Calibre Essay Prize Judges

02 October 2017 Written by Hidden Author

Andrea GoldsmithAndrea Goldsmith is a Melbourne-based novelist, reviewer and essayist. Her literary essays have appeared in Heat, Meanjin, Australian Book Review, Best Australian Essays, as well as numerous anthologies. Her most recent novel, The Memory Trap, won the Melbourne Prize for best literary work in 2015. Her new novel, The Science of Departures is due out in 2018.

 

 

 

Phillipa McGuinnessPhillipa McGuinness is Executive Publisher at NewSouth Publishing. She edited the book Copyfight (2015) and is writing a history of the year 2001, to be published by Random House in 2018.

 

 

 

 

Peter Rose 200Peter Rose is the Editor and CEO of Australian Book Review. His books include a family memoir, Rose Boys (2001), which won the National Biography Award in 2003. He has published two novels and six poetry collections, most recently The Subject of Feeling (UWA Publishing, 2015). Essays of his have appeared in Best Australian Essays and other publications.

2017 Jolley Prize winner: Eliza Robertson

07 August 2017 Written by Hidden Author

Announcing the 2017 Jolley Prize winner

Eliza Robertson 250Australian Book Review is delighted to announce that Eliza Robertson has won the 2017 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for her story 'Pheidippides'. Ian Dickson announced Ms Robertson as the overall winner at a ceremony at the Potts Point Bookshop on 10 August 2017. Dominic Amerena placed second for his story 'The Leaching Layer' and Lauren Aimee Curtis came third for her story 'Butter'. Subscribers can read all three shortlisted stories in the August 2017 Fiction issue. We would like to congratulate all three shortlisted entrants and thank all those who entered their stories.

On learning of her win, Eliza Robertson commented:
'I am overjoyed to win this year's ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. My very first publication came from a magazine contest, so I know first hand the opportunities they provide to new writers. Eight years later, this prize coincides with the publishing of my first novel, Demi-Gods, and I am incredibly grateful to the ABR and judges for choosing my story and helping me to connect with Australian readers.' 

The ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize is one of the country’s most prestigious awards for short fiction. This year the Jolley Prize attracted almost 1,200 entries from forty-two different countries. The 2017 Jolley Prize was judged by ABR Deputy Editor Amy Baillieu, and authors Ellen van Neerven and Chris Flynn.

About Eliza Robertson

Eliza Robertson Eliza Robertson (UK/Canada) studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia, where she received the Man Booker Scholarship. In 2013, she won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and was shortlisted for the Journey Prize and CBC Short Story Prize. Her début story collection, Wallflowers, was shortlisted for the East Anglia Book Award and selected as a New York Times editor’s choice. Her first novel, Demi-Gods, comes out with Penguin Canada and Bloomsbury in late 2017. Read her winning story 'Pheidippides'.

2018 Porter Prize Judges

01 August 2017 Written by Amy Baillieu

John Hawke croppedJohn Hawke is a Senior Lecturer, specialising in poetry, at Monash University. His books include Australian Literature and the Symbolist Movement, Poetry and the Trace (co-edited with Ann Vickery), and the volume of poetry Aurelia, which received the 2015 Anne Elder award.

 

 

 

 

Bill Manhire NEW CONTRIBUTOR by Grant Maiden croppedBill Manhire was New Zealand’s inaugural Poet Laureate. He founded the well-known creative writing programme at Victoria University of Wellington. His most recent books are a poetry collection, Some Things to Place in a Coffin (VUP, 2017), and a collection of short fiction, The Stories of Bill Manhire (VUP, 2015). He has also been writing songs with the jazz musician Norman Meehan.

 

 

Jen Webb cropped


Jen Webb
is Distinguished Professor of Creative Practice at the University of Canberra, and Director of the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research in the Faculty of Arts and Design. Her recent work includes the scholarly volumes Researching Creative Writing (Frontinus Press, 2015) and Art and Human Rights: Contemporary Asian Contexts (with Caroline Turner; Manchester UP, 2016), and the poetry volumes Watching the World (with Paul Hetherington; Blemish Books, 2015), Stolen Stories, Borrowed Lines (Mark Time, 2015) and Sentences from the Archive (Recent Work Press, 2016).

2018 Peter Porter Poetry Prize

31 July 2017 Written by Hidden Author

John Hawke Morag Fraser Nicholas Wong Peter RoseJohn Hawke, Morag Fraser, Nicholas Wong, and Peter RoseNicholas Wong is the winner of the 2018 Peter Porter Poetry Prize, now worth a total of $8,500. This is Australia’s premier prize for an original poem. Louis Klee, the 2017 winner, made the announcement at a special event at fortyfivedownstairs on Monday, 19 March. Nicholas Wong, who flew from Hong Kong to attend the Porter ceremony, receives $5,000. His winning poem is titled ‘101, Taipei’.

This year’s judges – John Hawke, Bill Manhire, Jen Webb – shortlisted poems by five poets – Eileen Chong, Katherine Healy, LK Holt, Tracey Slaughter, and Nicholas Wong. They were chosen from a record field of almost 1,000 poems. Tracey Slaughter’s poem ‘breather’ was placed second. She receives $2,000 – the other three shortlisted poets $500 each.

The shortlisted poems were published in the March issue of Australian Book Review.

About the shortlisted poets

Nicholas Wong (Winner) is the author of Crevasse (Kaya Press, 2015), winner of the Lambda Literary Award in Gay Poetry. He is also the recipient of the Hong Kong Young Artist Award in Literary Arts in 2017. Wong has contributed writing to the radio composition project ‘One of the Two Stories, Or Both’ at Manchester International Festival 2017, and the final exhibition of Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which will open in May 2018. He is the Vice President of PEN Hong Kong, and teaches at the Education University of Hong Kong.

Tracey Slaughter (Runner up) is a poet and short story writer from Cambridge, New Zealand. Her work has received numerous awards, including the international Bridport Prize (2014), shortlistings for the Manchester Prize in both Poetry (2014) and Fiction (2015), and two Katherine Mansfield Awards. Her latest work, the short story collection deleted scenes for lovers (Victoria University Press) was published to critical acclaim in 2016, and was longlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards. She is currently putting the finishing touches to a poetry collection entitled ‘conventional weapons’. She teaches at the University of Waikato, where she edits the literary journal Mayhem.

Eileen Chong is a Sydney poet who was born in Singapore of Chinese descent. She speaks English, Singlish, Mandarin, and Hokkien, but only writes in English. Chong took a Master of Letters at the University of Sydney and was a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award for a Doctorate in Creative Arts at Western Sydney University. She eventually left her academic studies to write poetry full-time. Her poetry collections are Burning Rice (2012), Peony (2014), and Painting Red Orchids (2016), all from Pitt Street Poetry.

Katherine Healy is a writer living in the Adelaide Hills. She has worked in education, community health promotion, and counselling. Katherine has published creative non-fiction, short fiction, and poetry. She gained her Master of Letters in Creative Writing from Central Queensland University and credits the rural city of Rockhampton for reawakening her poetic impulse. Katherine is a member of Writers’ SA. She has a poetry collection and a novel as a works-in-progress.

LK Holt lives in Melbourne, where she was born in 1982. Her first collection of poems, Man Wolf Man, won the 2009 Kenneth Slessor Prize in the NSW Premier’s Awards. Patience, Mutiny shared the 2011 Grace Leven Prize for Poetry. Her most recent collection Keeps was longlisted for the 2015 Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. Her forthcoming collection, System Garden, will be published by Vagabond Press later this year.


Click here for more information about past winners and to read their poems.

We look forward to offering the Porter Prize again in 2019.

We gratefully acknowledge the long-standing support of Ms Morag Fraser AM, and the support of ABR Patrons. The print is donated by Mr Ivan Durrant in honour of Georges Mora.

2017 Jolley Prize Judges

31 March 2017 Written by Amy Baillieu

AmyAmy Baillieu completed a Masters of Publishing and Communications at the University of Melbourne in 2011 and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the same university with majors in English Literature and French. She also attended the Sorbonne in Paris, where she completed a Cours de Langue et Civilisation Français in 2007. Amy has been Deputy Editor of Australian Book Review since 2012.

 

 

Chris FlynnChris Flynn is an author, editor and critic from Belfast, now based in Melbourne. His two novels are A Tiger in Eden (2012) and The Glass Kingdom (2014). His work has appeared in The Age, The Australian, Griffith Review, Meanjin, The Saturday Paper, Smith Journal, The Big Issue, The Paris Review Daily, McSweeney’s and many other publications. He is a regular presenter at literary festivals across Australia.

 

 

Ellen Van Neerven new

Ellen van Neerven is a Yugambeh woman from South-East Queensland. She is the author of the poetry volume Comfort Food (UQP, 2016) and the fiction collection Heat and Light (UQP, 2014) which won numerous awards including the 2013 David Unaipon Award, the 2015 Dobbie Award, and the 2016 NSW Premiers Literary Awards Indigenous Writers’ Prize. Ellen van Neerven is currently the Nakata Brophy writer-in-resident at Trinity College, University of Melbourne.

Current Fellowships

29 March 2017 Written by Hidden Author

The ABR Behrouz Boochani Fellowship

Hessom RazaviAustralian Book Review has much pleasure in naming Hessom Razavi as the recipient of the ABR Behrouz Boochani Fellowship. The Fellowship, worth $10,000, honours the artistry, courage, and moral leadership of Behrouz Boochani, the award-winning author of No Friend But the Mountains (2018), who has been imprisoned on Manus Island since 2013. Dr Razavi will make a significant contribution to the magazine in 2020 with a series of three substantial articles on refugees, statelessness, and human rights. The Fellowship is funded by Peter McMullin, a lawyer, philanthropist, and businessman. Hessom Razavi was chosen from a quality international field. The selection panel comprised Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee, Michelle Foster (Director of the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the University of Melbourne), and Peter Rose, Editor of ABR

ABR Fellowships - Frequently Asked Questions

20 February 2017 Written by Australian Book Review

What is the ABR Fellowship program?
ABR Fellowships are intended to reward outstanding Australian writers, to enhance ABR through the publication of long-form journalism, and to advance the magazine’s commitment to ideas and critical debate. The Fellow will work closely with the Editor of ABR.

Who can apply for a Fellowship?
Published authors who are Australian citizens or have permanent resident status in Australia. Any writer with a publication record (books, creative writing, essays or journalism) is eligible. ABR staff and Board members are ineligible. Contributors to the magazine are encouraged to apply.

How much are the Fellowships worth?
The Fellow will receive a total of $10,000, payable thus: $4,000 on announcement of the Fellowship; and two further payments of $3,000 on publication of the final two contributions to the magazine.

I don’t know anything about ABR. May I still apply?
Applicants must demonstrate real familiarity with the magazine and convince the panel that their article would complement other writings in ABR and win us new readers. Applications that do not refer to the magazine, or demonstrate any awareness of ABR’s own needs and directions, are unlikely to be successful.

Are the Fellowships themed?
The 2021 Fellowship is not themed. This reflects the breadth of ABR’s interests and content.

Is it possible to write the article with a friend or colleague?
No. Single-author works only.

Is ABR looking for academic papers?
No. ABR is not an academic journal. We seek engaging literary journalism of the kind you will find in The New Yorker or the London Review of Books. Links to essays by past Fellows can be found here.

Are you looking for finished articles from applicants?
No. We seek cogent proposals for articles to be developed over the course of the Fellowship, in collaboration with the Editor. Unlike the Calibre Essay Prize, the Fellowship program is not for finished works.

How do I apply?
Applicants must read the guidelines of the Fellowship for which they are interested in applying and send us a succinct but comprehensive proposal (2–3 pages maximum), plus a CV of no more than two pages. Note that we are looking for proposals – not finished articles or chapters. Applications must be received by the closing date of the relevant Fellowship. There is no application fee. Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their proposals with the Editor before submitting them: (03) 9699 8822 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How are Fellows selected?
The Fellowship will be awarded by Australian Book Review on the advice of a committee including the Editor of ABR. No correspondence will be entered into once the decision has been announced. ABR reserves the right not to award a Fellowship during a particular round.

Are the ABR Fellows expected to complete their projects at the ABR office in Melbourne?
No. Most of the editorial contact is via email or the telephone. Some meetings may be desirable during the course of the Fellowship. These are important collaborative partnerships between the magazine and the Fellows.

What kind of editorial support do Fellows enjoy?
We edit promptly, closely, and respectfully. ABR is committed to presenting the Fellow’s work in the best-possible form. The Editor is always available to discuss the project, to respond to ideas, and to read drafts. Peter Rose edits the articles in consultation with the Fellows, and each article is then proofread by at least three editors.

Are there opportunities for discussions with other writers or experts in the field?
We encourage Fellows to lead roundtable discussions with colleagues and specialists at a formative stage in the Fellowship. These can be held at the ABR office or elsewhere. ABR assists with the organisation of these roundtables. Fellows usually chair these gatherings, which have been most fruitful in the past.

Where are the Fellowship articles published?
In the print and digital editions of ABR.

Would I be required to take part in the promotion of the published article?
Yes.