Hachette Australia, along with the Richell family, is honoured to present The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers for 2022, in partnership with the Emerging Writers’ Festival and support from The Pedestrian Group. After receiving over 700 entries, we are delighted to announce the 20 writers on this year’s longlist.

The 2022 longlisted writers are:

• Alexander Bennetts
• Anne Myers
• C.R. Masters
• Callum Methven
• Clare Hawthorne
• Eva Lomski
• Fiona McDonald
• Hajer Al-awsi
• Jessica Lewis
• Jessica Stanley
• Kate Harris
• Lisa Cortez
• Lisa Dowdall
• Maggie Walters
• Natalie Phillips
• Natalie Satakovski
• Noah Bennett
• Olivia O’Flynn
• Rebecca Duke
• Susannah Begbie

The writers on the longlist will be judged on the first three chapters of their submitted work, along with a synopsis outlining the direction of the proposed work and details about how the author’s writing career would benefit from winning the Prize.

The winner will receive $10,000 in prize money, to be donated by Hachette Australia, along with a 12-month mentorship with one of Hachette Australia’s publishers. Hachette Australia will work with the winning writer to develop their manuscript with the first option to consider the finished work and the shortlisted entries for publication.

The judging panel includes Melanie Barton, from Target Australia; Barbara Horgan, from Beaufort Street Books; Bianca Valentino, editor and writer; Vanessa Radnidge, publisher at Hachette Australia; and Hannah Richell, bestselling author.

The shortlist will be announced on 11 October, with the winner announced on 2 November.

Hachette Australia and Hannah Richell would like to thank The Emerging Writers’ Festival who have worked with them to make this Prize a reality. The Emerging Writers’ Festival would also like to thank Simpsons Solicitors for assisting them financially with the administration of the Prize. Thanks also to Cam Tyeson, Vanessa Lawrence, and Stephanie Nuzzo at Pedestrian Group for their media support.

The Richell Prize honours and continues the support of emerging writers that former Hachette CEO Matt Richell was always passionate about. Thank you to all the brave writers who entered the award and congratulations to all the longlisted writers.


Learn more about the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers here.