The Novel Prize

The Novel Prize is a biennial award for a book-length work of literary fiction written in English by published and unpublished writers around the world. It is managed collaboratively by Giramondo Publishing, Fitzcarraldo Editions and New Directions.

The Novel Prize offers US$10,000 to the winner and simultaneous publication of their novel in Australia and New Zealand by Giramondo, in the UK and Ireland by Fitzcarraldo Editions, and in North America by New Directions. The prize recognises works which explore and expand the possibilities of the form, and are innovative and imaginative in style.

Entries to the third round of The Novel Prize closed 1 June 2024. Giramondo is 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 late 2024, with the winner announced in early 2025. The winning novel will be published in early 2026.

The inaugural winner of The Novel Prize was Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au, which was selected from over 1500 entries worldwide. Cold Enough for Snow was published in Australia, the UK and the US in 2022, and in over twenty territories worldwide. It was the recipient of the Victorian Prize for Literature in 2023.

The joint winners of the second round of the prize, It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over by Anne de Marcken and Tell by Jonathan Buckley, were published in March 2024.

The previous winners of The Novel Prize.