THE ARA PRIZE Rewarding and Recognizing Historical Novelists
The contest was ably administered by another HNSA partner, the New England Writers’ Centre. Entries ranged from children’s and young adult fiction to historical romance, family sagas, historical fantasy, historical mysteries, parallel narratives and literary fiction. Books were submitted from multinational publishers, independents, small presses, agents and self-publishers in either paperback or digital format. The judging process was fiendishly challenging, with books assessed on the criteria of excellence in writing, depth of historical research, and reader appeal. Our judges were Linda Funnell (Chair), co-editor of the Newtown Review of Books and publishing professional; Paula Morris, historical novelist, academic and founder of the Academy of New Zealand Literature; Kirsty Murray, historical novelist and Creative Fellow of the State Library of Victoria; and Colin Falconer, best-selling author of over two dozen historical novels. The books not only explored the histories of Australia and New Zealand but also tales from China, Ireland, the Soviet Union, France, England, the United States, New Guinea, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Greece and South America. Many, many fine novels were submitted. Ranging from earliest Christian times through to the Second World War, the eight longlisted novels tell stories that resonate with audiences all over the world. The books reveal the true diversity of the genre with its innate ability to illuminate new interpretations of history, and transport readers into an authentic and compelling re-imagining of the past. Significantly the longlist demonstrates the value of historical fiction in highlighting ‘erased’ history, and capturing the voices of those who’ve been silenced.
2020 will long be remembered for the impact of COVID-19, which no doubt will be woven into historical fiction in the future. The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) also made its own little piece of history this year with the inauguration of the ARA Historical Novel Prize. The award is the realisation of a shared vision of the HNSA with the ARA Group and its founder, Edward Federman. Edward is a true philanthropist with a long-standing involvement in fostering the arts in Australia. Through the ARA Group, he was a generous partner of the HNSA’s 2017 and 2019 conferences. Together, our organisations have placed historical fiction onto the Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) literary calendar by designing a prize to distinguish our historical novelists in a class of their own. Most extraordinary of all, Edward doubled the initial prize money of $30k to $60,000 mid-way through the contest in recognition of the difficulties faced by writers during the pandemic. The increase in funding places the ARA Historical Novel Prize among the top five richest literary prizes in the region. The overall prize winner received $50,000, with an additional $5,000 awarded to each of the remaining two shortlisted authors. The response was overwhelming, with 185 novels submitted under the definition of historical fiction set by the Historical Novel Society.
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FEATURES | Issue 95, February 2021
This element was displayed in the winning novel, Stone Sky Gold Mountain (University of Queensland Press) by Mirandi Riwoe. In immediate and poignant prose, the novel recreates the experiences of Chinese siblings, Ying and Lai Yue, struggling to survive on Far North Queensland’s goldfields in 1877. The harshness of the environment is vividly recreated, contrasting the hopes and dreams of the protagonists with the realities of violence and hunger. The novel’s intimate exploration of its characters is juxtaposed against an epic depiction of different cultures thrown together in social and economic turmoil. The book explores big questions of identity, racism, colonialism and gender—all of which are relevant today. Riwoe sees the novel as important in highlighting the AustralianChinese colonial experience, expressing a desire “to depict those who have been elided or even ignored historically, such as women and the culturally diverse, and perhaps shift stubborn perceptions.” The two winning shortlisted books also explored 19th-century Australian history with different portraits of the country’s past. In Master of My Fate (Penguin Books Australia), debut author, Sienna Brown, tells a coming-of-age survival story of a Jamaican slave transported to New South Wales in the 1830s as a convict. The novel is an eloquent story of determination and hope. Brown was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in Canada, but it wasn’t until she moved to Sydney that she discovered William Buchanan’s story and was captivated by how it intersected with her own cultural background. She believes Buchanan’s tale needed to be told and goes “a long way to establishing that Australia’s beginnings were truly more multicultural than many people realise, or would like to admit.”
