2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize winners
Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA), in partnership with Australia’s leading essential building and infrastructure services provider ARA Group, is excited to announce the winners of the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
This year’s winners demonstrates the true depth of talent of historical fiction authors. The winning novels demonstrate the irresistible prose, unforgettable characters, meticulous research, and epic storytelling for which historical fiction is known.
Winner of the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize – Adult Category
Salonika Burning by Gail Jones
Macedonia, 1917. The great city of Salonika is engulfed by fire as all of Europe is ravaged by war.
Amid the destruction are those who have come to the frontlines to heal - surgeons, ambulance drivers, nurses, orderlies and other volunteers. Four of them - Stella, Olive, Grace and Stanley - are at the centre of Gail Jones's extraordinary new novel, which takes its inspiration from the wartime experiences of Australians Miles Franklin and Olive King, and British painters Grace Pailthorpe and Stanley Spencer. In Jones's imagination these four lives intertwine and change, each compelled by the desire to create something meaningful in the ruins of a broken world.
Also worthy of note are the other shortlisted titles in the category:
Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor
The Settlement by Jock Serong
Winner of the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize – Children and Young Adult (CYA) Category
The Bookseller's Apprentice by Amelia Mellor
Twelve-year-old Billy Pyke has a talent for sorting things out, whether it’s his chaotic family home or the busy book stall at Paddy’s Market. In 1871, the market is the loud, smelly, marvellous heart of Melbourne, and Billy is delighted to work at the book stall there for the eccentric Mr Cole.
When his new friend Kezia warns him of a sinister magician called the Obscurosmith, Billy can’t believe her stories of magical deals gone horribly wrong - until he sees them happening. And the night that the Obscurosmith crosses a terrifying and dangerous line, Billy realises something: if he wants the Obscurosmith stopped, he’ll have to do it himself.
Also worthy of note are the other shortlisted titles in the category:
Running With Ivan by Suzanne Leal
Waiting for the Storks by Katrina Nannestad
Prize chair and Historical Novel Society Australasia program director Elisabeth Storrs said the ‘exceptional narratives selected for this year’s ARA Historical Novel Prize underscore the vastness and intricacy of our shared human journey’. ‘Drawing from the tapestries of our collective past, both Salonika Burning and The Bookseller’s Apprentice shine a light on the complexities of our human spirit, the fervor of resilience, and the delicate weave of friendships amidst societal upheavals,’ said Storrs.
More information on the ARA Historical Novel Prize can be found here.