Hachette names six emerging writers on 2026 Richell Prize shortlist

The shortlist was drawn from 1,022 entries, and the winner gets $10,000 and a year's mentorship with a Hachette publisher.

Hachette Australia has shortlisted six unpublished writers for the 2026 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, now in its twelfth year. The prize is run with the Richell family, the Emerging Writers' Festival and Simpsons Solicitors.

The shortlisted manuscripts are Chloe Anne's The House Where Mercy Died, Mike Boynes's Moola Bulla, Farrin Foster's The Same House, Euri Glenn's Harvest, KT Major's Peril and Gillian Worrall's Exhibit A for Althea. They were chosen from 1,022 entries and a longlist of 24.

The prize judges three chapters and a pitch rather than a finished manuscript. This year's panel was Cindy Manfong of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Simon McDonald of Dymocks, Jane Turner of Gertrude & Alice, Hachette's head of non-fiction and literary Vanessa Radnidge, and author Hannah Richell.

The winner receives $10,000 and a one-year mentorship with a Hachette publisher. Hachette's prize page lists the winner announcement for 6 November.