We’ve announced the shortlist for the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction 2016. Here, we introduce the six shortlisted authors.

Find more information about this year’s shortlisted books (including the judges’ report) here.

Julie Koh

Julie Koh was born in Sydney to Chinese-Malaysian parents. She studied politics and law at the University of Sydney, then quit a career in corporate law to pursue writing. Portable Curiosities is her debut story collection.

You can read an extract from Portable Curiosities here.

You can read our review of Portable Curiosities here.

Photograph by Hugh Stewart

Fiona McFarlane

Fiona McFarlane was born in Sydney, and has degrees in English from Sydney University and Cambridge University, and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a Michener Fellow. She lives in Sydney. The High Places is her second book.

You can read an extract from The High Places here.

You can read our review of The High Places here.

Photograph by Andy Barclay

Zoë Morrison

Zoë Morrison was born in Oberon, NSW, and grew up in Adelaide. She has an Arts degree from Adelaide University, an AMusA and LMusA in piano, and a DPhil from Oxford University where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Music and Freedom is her debut novel.

You can read an extract from Music and Freedom here.

You can read our review of Music and Freedom here.

Photograph by Nicholas Purcell Studio

Sean Rabin

Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Sean Rabin has worked as a dishwasher, cook, script reader, copy-editor and journalist. He has lived in Ireland, Italy, London and New York, and now resides in Sydney, Australia. Wood Green is his debut novel.

You can read an extract from Wood Green here.

You can read our review of Wood Green here.

Photograph by Caroline Constantine

Rajith Savanadasa

Rajith Savanadasa was born in Sri Lanka and now lives in Melbourne. He turned to creative writing in the final year of an engineering degree, which he followed up with the Professional Writing and Editing course at RMIT University. Rajith is also the founder and primary contributor to Open City Stories. Ruins is his debut novel.

You can read an extract from Ruins here.

You can read our review of Ruins here.

Photograph by Craig Peihopa

Lucy Treloar

Lucy Treloar was born in Malaysia and educated in Melbourne, England and Sweden. A graduate of the University of Melbourne and RMIT’s Professional Writing and Editing program, Lucy is a writer, editor, mentor and creative writing teacher and has plied her trades both in Australia and in Cambodia, where she lived for several years. Salt Creek is her debut novel.

You can read an extract from Salt Creek here.

You can read our review of Salt Creek here.

Photograph by Nicholas Purcell Studio

You can read more about the Prize here.

You can buy a specially-priced pack of all six shortlisted books here for $139.95 ().