The 2017 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, sponsored by Hachette in partnership with The Guardian Australia and The Emerging Writer’s Festival is open for submissions. It is a prize that is awarded annually, and it is now in its third year, honouring Matt Richell, Hachette Australia’s former CEO, who died suddenly in 2014.
THE KEY DATES FOR THIS YEAR’S PRIZE:
ENTRIES OPEN: 27th March, 2017
ENTRIES CLOSE: 3rd July, 2017
WINNER ANNOUNCED: 1st November, 2017
From the Press Release:
Hachette Australia, along with the Richell family, is honoured to launch the third year of The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, in partnership with The Guardian Australia and The Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF).
‘Hachette Australia’s core purpose is to contribute to the development and health of Australian culture through the power of storytelling, The Richell Prize is integral to that aim, and we are so proud to once again offer this prize to emerging writers’ – Fiona Hazard, Publishing Director – Hachette Australia.
‘The Richell Prize has opened, and continues to open, so many wonderful doors, from the support, interest and expert advice given by Hachette Australia and many others to renewed self-confidence in the writing process. It is a unique, exciting and generous prize, a real game-changer that keeps on giving’ – Sally Abbott, author of the forthcoming CLOSING DOWN (to be published by Hachette Australia in May 2017) and winner of the inaugural Richell Prize for Emerging Writers (2015).
The Prize is once again open to unpublished writers of adult fiction and adult narrative non-fiction. Writers do not need to have a full manuscript at the time of submission, though they must intend to complete one. The Prize will be judged on the first three chapters of the submitted work, along with a synopsis outlining the direction of the proposed work and detail about how the author’s writing career would benefit from winning the Prize.
‘The Richell Prize provides a unique opportunity for an emerging writer in that it not only comes with a cash prize – which directly translates into time to write and further develop craft – but also a 12-month mentorship with one of Hachette Australia’s expert publishers. The prize can provide a foot in the door to the publishing industry not only for the winner, but also other entrants and shortlisted writers.’ – Izzy Roberts – Orr, Creative Director of the Emerging Writers’ Festival
The winner of the Richell Prize receives $10,000 in prize money from Hachette Australia, a year’s mentorship with a publisher at Hachette, and the winning writer will work with Hachette to develop their manuscript – with Hachette receiving first option to consider the finished work and the shortlisted entries for publcation.
There have been two winners so far:
2015 – Sally Abbott – Closing Down, published in May 2017, and a shortlisted author from the same year – Brodie Lancaster – No Way! Okay, Fine to be published in July this year.
All details of the award can be found at www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au and www.hachette.com.au.
The Stella Prize also participates in the Stella Count, looking at how many male and female writers are reviewed each year for newspapers. This count is conducted to understand reading and reviewing habits, and hopefully, highlight more women writers, authors of various sexualities, ethnicities, race and gender identities, and also disabilities. The Australian Women Writer’s Challenge encourages this too – in reading more women writers whose identity can be made of one, or several of these distinctions, the profile of women writers is highlighted.
Title: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The Hogwarts textbook that inspired the movie of the same name, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has been res-issued, with the addition of six beasts that Newt discovered during the course of the movie. Writing as Newt Scamander, JK Rowling brings the magical creatures of the wizarding world to life. From the treasure seeking Niffler to the water horses and kelpies, to the breeds of dragon that populate the world, and the American Creatures that Newt was forbidden from revealing after his 1926 visit to New York, including the Thunderbird, Horned Serpent and Wampus Cat, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them brings to life a new facet of the world of Harry Potter.
Title: Traitor to the Throne
On the 26th of June, 2017, it will have been twenty years since the 
first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published. Like all good ideas, Harry Potter started as a seedling idea on a train journey, and soon became a worldwide sensation and phenomenon – selling 450 million copies worldwide, and being translated into 79 languages.
To mark the twentieth anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Bloomsbury is reissuing special twentieth anniversary editions in the house colours in both paperback and hard cover. Levi Pinfold has illustrated the crests for each house, and on the black hardcovers, the crests are in the respective house colours: red for Gryffindor, yellow for Hufflepuff, blue for Ravenclaw and green for Slytherin, with striped page edges. In the paperbacks, the covers and edges of the paper are in the house colours, with the crests in black. 
ristics of the houses. These designs were created by Levi Pinfold, a Kate Greenaway Medal winner, and will also contain three illustrations within the books, to go with the additional information about the houses. These editions will be published at the beginning of June, and cost $16.99 for the paperback, and $27.99 for the hardcover in Australia.
Harry Potter is a story that has inspired many children to read since it was released in 1997, and continues to
do so, forming a large part of childhood for many. It continues to gather fans and older fans pass their love onto others, sharing the magic of Harry, Ron and Hermione for years to come. These twentieth anniversary editions will be a great addition to any shelf.
Alongside these new covers, Bloomsbury will be marking the celebration with various events, and competitions.
