The Novel Prize
Entries for The Novel Prize are now closed.
The Novel Prize is a biennial award for a book-length work of literary fiction written in English by published and unpublished writers around the world.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.
The Novel Prize is managed by the three publishers working in collaboration. Entries for the 2026 Novel Prize were open from 1 April 2026 to 1 June 2026, 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 January 2027. The winner will be announced in February 2027, and published in 2028.
The 2024 Novel Prize winner, announced in February 2025, was Giada Scodellaro for Ruins, Child. Selected from 1,100 submissions, Scodellaro’s novel was published simultaneously by the three publishers in early 2026.
The inaugural winner of The Novel Prize was Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au, which was selected from over 1,500 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, among other prizes.
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. de Marcken’s book went on to win the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction.
The Novel Prize runs alongside the Poetry in Translation Prize, a biennial award for an outstanding poetry collection translated into English.
Sign up to the Giramondo newsletter for updates.
News
Giada Scodellaro is the winner of the 2024 Novel Prize
Announcing the 2024 Novel Prize shortlist
Anne de Marcken and Jonathan Buckley are joint winners of the 2022 Novel Prize
Announcing the 2022 Novel Prize shortlist
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au wins The Novel Prize
Announcing the 2020 Novel Prize shortlist
Giramondo Publishing, Fitzcarraldo Editions and New Directions launch The Novel Prize
The four winning books to date of The Novel Prize.