Melissa Lucashenko makes prize history with novel Edenglassie
The highest-paying Australian literary prize has selected Melissa Lucashenko’s chronicle of Brisbane’s colonial conflicts as the recipient of its greatest honour.
Indigenous author Melissa Lucashenko has become the 2024 recipient of the ARA Historical Novel Prize for her intergenerational war story Edenglassie.
The award was announced at NSW parliament on Wednesday, with the Miles Franklin Literary Award-winner taking home the premier Adult Prize.
Edenglassie weaves dual narratives from the 1800s and modern day, charting early frontier conflicts through Brisbane/Meanjin. It is published through University of Queensland Press.
Lucashenko, a Goorie woman, is the author of the award-winning novel Too Much Lip and she received the 2013 Walkley Award for feature writing.
The Historical Novel Society Australasia administers the ARA Historical Novel Prize, which has the highest prize pool of any Australian award. From a total $150,000 in prizemoney, Lucashenko will receive $100,000.
“I am thrilled and delighted to be awarded the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize,” she said. “All my previous books have contained some historical elements, but Edenglassie is my first foray into historical fiction proper. I never dreamt shifting genres would have this wonderful result.
“The ARA Prize is a powerful tool to help shift the Australian national narrative towards a truer history, one which includes all people on this continent.”
Other works shortlisted for the Adult Prize were Lenny Bartulin’s The Unearthed (Allen & Unwin) and Tony Birch’s Women & Children (University of Queensland Press).
Each will receive a $5000 prize.
Beverley McWilliams’s Spies in the Sky (Pantera Press) took the gong in the Children and Young Adult category of the award. Her novel chronicles the life of a racing pigeon in World War I and she will receive $30,000 for the honour.
Shortlisted for the prize were Jackie French’s Secret Sparrow (HarperCollins Publishers) and Rebecca Lim’s Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky (Allen & Unwin).
Each will be awarded $5000.
ARA founder and businessman Edward Federman, a patron to the prize, said it provided a clear focus on an often-neglected genre.
“It has been a pleasure to be involved in making a long-lasting contribution to the arts, particularly to the historical fiction genre that has not always received the attention it rightly deserves,” Mr Federman said.
“Our hope is that the ARA Historical Novel Prize will not only make a considerable difference to the lives of this year’s winning authors but also shine a light on the historical fiction genre and the work of all entrants across Australia and New Zealand.”
For works to be eligible, they must take place or intercut sections set at least 50 years in the past. Last year, the adult section prize was award to Gail Jones for her novel Salonika Burning, set in wartime Macedonia.
This year’s award prize pool was half of that in 2023 but at $150,000 it still remains the richest literary prize in Australia and New Zealand.
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