Prizes
Melbourne Prize
for Literature 2024
$60,000
For a Victorian author whose body of published work has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and to cultural and intellectual life.
The author’s entered work can include all literary genres, for example, fiction, non-fiction, essays, plays, screenplays and poetry.
Supported by Major Patron, The Vera Moore Foundation.
Finalist fees supported by Fed Square.
What you need to know to enter this prize
- Authors can apply for this Prize in their own right or be nominated by publishers, agents or private individuals.
- Entrants MUST be published authors, an Australian citizen or permanent resident and a resident of the State of Victoria.
- The $60,000 (incl. GST) prize and will be given to a single winning author. No group entries are permitted.
- A maximum of four finalists will be announced on 4 September 2024 at www.melbourneprize.org
- $1,000 (incl. GST) will be given to the three runner-up finalists.
- Copies of published work are NOT required for this category.
- A public exhibition of the finalists will be held at Fed Square 3 to 14 November.
- The recipient of this Prize will be announced to the media and at www.melbourneprize.org on 14 November 2024.
Entry material required
- A brief biography and a resume including a summary of the author’s published work.
- A proposal of how the Prize funds will be used to benefit the career of the author.
- Where an entry is by nomination, a commendation of the entrant must be provided by the nominator.
Entries are closed.
The Writers Prize 2024
$10,000
The Writers Prize 2024 will be awarded to the winning author, for an essay of 5,000 words maximum, of outstanding originality, literary merit and creative freshness.
Supported by sole patron, The Robert Salzer Foundation.
The winning essay in The Writers Prize 2024 will be published in Meanjin 83.4 Summer 2024.
Information on the finalist essays will be available on this website after the winner announcement on 14 November.
What you need to know to enter this prize
- Entrants to The Writers Prize 2024 are invited to submit an essay of 5,000 words maximum. Essays over this word count will not be eligible.
- The subject for the essay is open.
- Entrants MUST be published authors, an Australian citizen or permanent resident and a resident of the State of Victoria.
- Essays submitted must have NOT been published or made publicly available on any platform.
- The submitted essay may be entered by the author, or by nomination by publishers, agents or private individuals.
- The $10,000 (incl. GST) Prize will be given to a single winning author. No group entries are permitted.
- A maximum of five finalists will be announced on 4 September at www.melbourneprize.org
- 1,000 (incl. GST) will be awarded to the four runner-up finalists.
- The submitted essay must be the original work of the author.
- The Entry Form will require entrants to briefly describe their inspiration for the entered essay.
- Entered material must not infringe any existing copyright or contain material that is defamatory or otherwise unlawful.
- The submitted essay must be uploaded as a PDF in the relevant section of the Entry Form.
- The winning essay will be announced to the media and at www.melbourneprize.org on 14 November.
- Meanjin will pay a fee to the winning author.
- An exhibition of finalists will be held at Fed Square between 3 to 14 November.
Entry material required
- A brief biography and a resume including the entrant’s list of published works.
- The essay of 5,000 words maximum uploaded as a PDF to the Entry Form.
Entries are closed.
Falls Creek Writers
Residencies 2024
Falls Creek Alpine Resort has made available two three-week residencies at the resort, which will be awarded to two Victorian published authors.
The residencies are provided by Falls Creek Alpine Resort.
Click here to visit Falls Creek Alpine Resort’s Arts & Culture Strategy.
The cash component of this category is supported by Readings.
What you need to know to enter this prize
- Two three-weeks residencies will be awarded to two authors, which will include apartment accommodation at Falls Creek for the winners, plus $1,000 (incl. GST) cash provided to each winner.
- The residencies will be available for the summer, spring and autumn months at Falls Creek.
- Entrants will need to demonstrate, in the entry form, how the Falls Creek residency will be used and how it will benefit their literary career.
- Entrants must be published authors, an Australian citizen or permanent resident and a resident of the State of Victoria.
- There are no finalists in this category. The two recipients will be announced on 14 November at www.melbourneprize.org
- As part of the residency, each recipient will be invited to participate in cultural events at Falls Creek.
- The recipients of each residency will be able to discuss the timing with Falls Creek management.
Entry material required
- A brief biography and a resume including the entrant’s list of published works.
- How the residency at Falls Creek will benefit the career of the recipient.
Entries are closed.
Civic Choice Award 2024
$1,500
Supported by Hardie Grant Books.
This Award will be given to finalists in the Melbourne Prize for Literature 2024 and The Writers Prize 2024 with the highest number of public votes.
Votes can be made using the online Voting Form, which will be available at www.melbourneprize.org from the announcement of finalists on 4 September to 12 November at 5pm.
Voters will have a chance to win a $100 gift voucher from Reading.
The winner of this Award will be announced on 14 November at www.melbourneprize.org
Past winners
2021
Christos Tsiolkas
Melbourne Prize
for Literature 2021
Evelyn Araluen
Professional Development
Award 2021
Eloise Victoria Grills
The Writers Prize 2021
Essay: The Fat Bitch in Art
Maxine Beneba Clarke
Civic Choice Award 2021
2018
Alison Lester
Melbourne Prize
for Literature 2018
Maria Tumarkin
Best Writing Award 2018
Axiomatic (Penguin, 2021)
Jamie Marina Lau
Readings Residency Award 2018
Louise Milligan
Civic Choice Award 2018
Cardinal (MUP, 2017)
2015
Chris Wallace-Crabbe AM
Melbourne Prize
for Literature 2015
Photo by Robert Colvin
Andrea Goldsmith
Best Writing Award 2015
The Memory Trap (Fourth Estate, 2013)
Kate Ryan
Writers Prize 2015 & Residency
Essay: Psychotherapy for Normal People
Robyn Annear
Civic Choice Award 2015
Essay: Places Without Poetry
2012
Alex Miller
Melbourne Prize
for Literature 2012
Craig Sherborne
Best Writing Award 2012
The Amateur Science of Love (Text, 2011)
Tony Birch
Civic Choice Award 2012
Blood (UQP, 2011)
2009
Gerald Murnane
Melbourne Prize
for Literature 2009
Nam Le
Best Writing Award 2009
The Boat (Penguin, 2008)
Amra Pajalic
Civic Choice Award 2009
The Good Daughter (Text, 2009)
2006
Helen Garner
Melbourne Prize
for Literature 2006
Christos Tsiolkas
Best Writing Award 2006
Dead Europe (Random House, 2005)
Photo by Monica Ali
Henry von Doussa
Civic Choice Award 2006
The Park Bench (Thompson Walker, 2005)