Giramondo Publishing, Fitzcarraldo Editions and New Directions launch The Novel Prize
Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo Publishing and New Directions are pleased to announce The Novel Prize, a new biennial award for a book-length work of literary fiction written in English by published and unpublished writers around the world.
The Novel Prize offers US$10,000 to the winner in the form of an advance against royalties, and simultaneous publication of their novel in Australia and New Zealand by Sydney publisher Giramondo, in the UK and Ireland by the London-based Fitzcarraldo Editions, and in North America by New York’s New Directions. The judges will be looking for novels which explore and expand the possibilities of the form, and are innovative and imaginative in style.
The Novel Prize will be managed by the three publishers working in collaboration. Entries will be open from 1 April to 1 July 2020, with Giramondo reading submissions from Asia and Australasia, Fitzcarraldo Editions from Africa and Europe, and New Directions from the Americas. A shortlist will be made public in December 2020, with the winner announced in February 2021. The winning novel will be published in early 2022.
Nick Tapper, commissioning editor at Giramondo, commented: ‘The Novel Prize is an unprecedented opportunity for us to work with two of the world’s most distinctive literary publishers. We look forward to discovering original and challenging fiction from Australia and our region, and to publishing the winning work with Fitzcarraldo and New Directions.’
Fitzcarraldo Editions publisher Jacques Testard said: ‘Everyone at Fitzcarraldo Editions is thrilled to be working on the Novel Prize with Giramondo and New Directions, whose lists we admire enormously. After running our own novel prize for British and Irish writers for two years it’s very exciting to be “going global” with two like-minded publishing houses. Nothing like this prize exists and I can’t wait to see what gems we unearth in this inaugural iteration.’
New Directions publisher Barbara Epler said: ‘This is truly a first for us: though New Directions always aims to find exciting new voices, we are especially thrilled, in this novel adventure, to be casting a net over the entire Anglophone world with such wonderful and like-minded publishers as Fitzcarraldo and Giramondo.’
For PR enquiries, please contact publicity@giramondopublishing.com.