Meg Caddy's A Flash in the Dust wins ARA Historical Novel Prize children's and YA category

The UQP novel, set among bushrangers in 1899, took the CYA award at a ceremony in Sydney.

By The Book Source15 October 20261 minute read

Children and YAMeg CaddyA Flash in the Dust

Meg Caddy has won the children's and young adult (CYA) category of the 2026 ARA Historical Novel Prize for A Flash in the Dust, published by University of Queensland Press.

The novel is set in 1899, when bushrangers worked the roads and girls who stepped out of line could be sent to institutions. The judges said it reminds today's readers that every life is worth writing about.

The book was longlisted on 2 September and shortlisted on 23 September, when UQP said the winners would be named at a ceremony in Sydney on 15 October. The prize, run by the Historical Novel Society Australasia, carries total prize money of $155,000 across its categories.

Shortlisted books across the prize this year ranged over ancient Egypt, colonial Aotearoa and Australia, 1940s Sydney and the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government in Canberra.

Original source: University of Queensland Press ↗

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