PRIZE FOR WRITERS

Calling all writers: HarperCollins is looking for Australia’s next great storyteller,

This week, the publisher launched the The Banjo Prize, a new prize for Australian fiction writers. The Banjo will be offered annually and will be open to all Australian writers of commercial fiction, offering the chance to win a publishing contract with HarperCollins, with an advance of $15,000.

In partnership with News Regional Media, two runners-up will each receive a written assessment of their manuscript from HarperCollins.

Writers need to have a full manuscript at the time of submission. Applications need to include a synopsis of about 500 words and a 200-word biographical statement. Australian residents aged 18 or older are eligible.

HarperCollins is Australia’s oldest and original publisher, with a literary heritage dating back to Angus & Robertson, who started publishing in Sydney in 1888. The Banjo is named after Banjo Paterson, Australia’s first bestselling author.

His first collection of poems, The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, was published by Angus & Robertson in October 1895 and was an instant success. The first edition sold out in the week of publication and went on to sell over 7000 copies in just a few months.

HarperCollins Australia CEO James Kellow said the publisher hoped The Banjo would help uncover more literary gold. “We’re looking for stories that make us laugh and cry, stories that keep us reading late into the night, stories that make our pulse race and stories we can’t put down,” he said.

Entries open on March 23 and close at 4pm on May 25. The shortlist is announced on July 26 and the winners will be announced on August 13.

For more information visit harpercollins.com.au/thebanjoprize