The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and HQ, a publishing division of HarperCollins, are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2026 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize for unpublished manuscripts:

Querencia, Jillian Britton

Best Served Cold, Sonya Gellert

All the Little Wide Worlds, Karen Howie Casey

The Dark Angels’ Book Club, Johanna Skinner

The winner will receive a publishing contract with HQ, with a $10,000 advance against royalties. The runner-up will receive $500 and a year’s membership with the ASA.

The shortlist was drawn from a pool of 280 entries and was selected by a panel of judges, including ABIA-shortlisted author Angie Faye Martin, bookseller Erica Rist, HQ’s Head of Publishing Jo Mackay, Publisher Rachael Donovan and Commissioning Editor Zoe Walton.

Rachael Donovan, HQ Publisher, said, ‘Congratulations to all the shortlisted writers, and thank you to Angie, Erica and everyone at the ASA—you’ve been wonderful partners to work with and connected us to an amazing pool of up-and-coming talent. The array of voices and ideas in this year’s submissions were more impressive than ever. It has been incredibly difficult to select only four manuscripts.’

ASA CEO Lucy Hayward said, ‘We’re thrilled to have partnered again with HQ on the Fiction Prize, and thank them for offering this remarkable publishing opportunity. We extend our warm congratulations and well wishes to the shortlisted authors! Their work demonstrates the breadth of talent we’re fortunate to have in contemporary Australian writing.’

The ASA/HQ Fiction Prize has launched the writing careers of two earlier winners: Ayesha Inoon with Untethered, published in June 2023 and highly recommended for both the ACT Book of the Year 2024 and the ACT Literary Awards 2024 (Fiction); and Sally Bothroyd with Brunswick Street Blues, published in March 2022 and shortlisted for the 2023 Danger Award.

Entering the prize also led to the successful publication of three shortlisted authors: Arianne James with the upcoming novel Daughters of the Tide, which weaves historical fiction with folklore and Tasmanian gothic, publishing July 2026; Kathy George with Sargasso, a genre-bending gothic drama published in February 2021; and Stella Quinn’s contemporary romance The Vet from Snowy River, published in June 2021. Both Kathy George and Stella Quinn have gone on to publish multiple novels with HQ and have new novels due out in 2027.

The winner of the ASA/HQ Fiction Prize will be announced online on 13 May 2026.

FURTHER INFORMATION: 

• About the Prize
• Terms and Conditions
• Hashtag: #ASAHQPrize 

For all media queries please contact Hellai Gul, ASA Marketing and Communications Manager: [email protected] / 02 9211 1004