Submissions open for 2020 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award

Unpublished authors are encouraged to get their manuscripts ready for a chance to win a publishing contract with Fremantle Press and a $15,000 cash prize from City of Fremantle in the 30th anniversary of the Hungerford Award.

Submissions for the 2020 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award, Western Australia’s longest running and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript, opened today.

Fremantle Press publisher and Hungerford judge Georgia Richter said the award had a track record for launching writing careers over its 30 years. 

“From acclaimed authors like Brenda Walker and Gail Jones to Madelaine Dickie and Natasha Lester, the Hungerford has consistently identified talented writers and nurtured them in the early stages of development,” Ms Richter said.

“The award’s most recent winner, Holden Sheppard, is no exception.

“Since Invisible Boys won in 2018, it has gone on to take out the lucrative Kathleen Mitchell Award, been shortlisted for a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and longlisted for an Indie Book Award.”

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt said announcing the winner at Fremantle Arts Centre in the award’s 30th anniversary year would be extra-special.

“But as history has shown, just making the shortlist can be significant for a writer,” Mayor Pettitt said.

“The City is proud of its support for the arts, and of the fact that multiple writing careers have begun by authors being shortlisted for this award.

“In 2018 alone, shortlisted writers Yuot A. Alaak, Zoe Deleuil and Julie Sprigg were all offered publishing contracts with Fremantle Press.

“We can’t wait to celebrate with them as they launch their books in 2020 and 2021.”

The City of Fremantle Hungerford Award is a biennial award that is an integral part of Fremantle Press’ mission to find and publish new and emerging Western Australian authors – a commitment to local writers that hasn't wavered in the Press’s 43-year history.

The only Western Australian award to be judged anonymously, the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award is given for a full-length manuscript of fiction or creative non-fiction by a Western Australian author previously unpublished in book form.

Past recipients of the award are Brenda Walker, Gail Jones, Simone Lazaroo, Bruce Russell, Christopher Murray, Nathan Hobby, Donna Mazza, Alice Nelson, Natasha Lester, Jacqueline Wright, Robert Edeson, Madelaine Dickie, Jay Martin and Holden Sheppard.

The inaugural winner, Brenda Walker, is on this year’s judging panel and will choose the longlist alongside Perth Festival’s Sisonke Msimang and teacher and writer Richard Rossiter.

Entry forms and full terms and conditions are available the Fremantle Press submittable page.

Entries close at midnight WST on Friday 20 March 2020. The winner will be announced at a special ceremony at Fremantle Arts Centre in October.

The City of Fremantle Hungerford Award is proudly sponsored by the City of Fremantle and Fremantle Press.