Australia is the proverbial ‘lucky country’, yet amid our remarkable prosperity too many pockets of poverty and disadvantage persist in our cities, regions and remote areas. This narrative deserves to be explored through evocative writing.
The Hope Prize encourages writers to explore people's resilience in the face of poverty and disadvantage, to look beyond all too common stereotypes to depict the strengths that people and communities show in dealing with hardship.
Short stories entered for The Hope Prize can be fiction or fact. Whatever the genre, the story submitted must convey the experience of people facing hardship in their lives.
The total prize pool is $17,500, while two Women’s Writing Career Development Scholarships — of $5,000 each — will also be awarded.
Authors must be Australian residents and entries must be between 2000 and 5000 words. The closing date for entries is January 31, 2018.
The eminent judges for the first competition are again judging The Hope Prize. They are actor Cate Blanchett, former governor general Quentin Bryce and author Kate Grenville. They are passionate about defeating disadvantage and care deeply about encouraging good writing.
The prizes for the competition are:
First prize— $10,000
Second prize — $4,000
Third prize — $2,000
Highly commended stories — $250
Award for an emerging writer under 18 years — $500
Two Women’s Writing Career Development Scholarships — of $5,000 each — will be awarded to recognise the many additional challenges women face in our community. The patron of the scholarship hopes that the scholarships will give two women a special opportunity to thrive.
See the competition guidelines and entry form.
Quentin Bryce: "I admire the way the stories reveal the lives of people who so often go unnoticed in our society; stories filled with determination and human spirit about people who overcome the odds with courage and strength."
Cate Blanchett: "The finalists all revealed powerful perspectives on the world at large, and displayed unique, unpretentious and authentic voices."
Kate Grenville, on the story which won the first Hope Prize, 'Better Homes and Gardens' by Catherine Moffat: "The hope here isn’t that good things are going to happen, because they probably won’t. It’s that love is stronger than circumstance, and hope keeps love alive."
See the list of winners.
Publisher Simon & Schuster published the Hope anthology of the winning short stories from the first Hope Prize. It achieved significant sales and is available at leading book retailer Readings.
The Hope Prize was made possible by the generosity of the late Prudence Myer and the support of her family, and the support of Simon & Schuster and Readings.
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