The Horne Prize
This year’s prize will be presented in early December for an essay of up to 3000 words addressing some part of the theme ‘Australian life’ – shining light on a particular aspect of who we are, from a contemporary perspective.
The prize is named for the late Donald Horne AO, in honour of his exceptional contribution to Australian letters. A shortlist will be announced on December 7; the winner will be announced on December 12 and the winning essay published in The Saturday Paper on December 19, 2020.
All writers are invited to enter. Taking cues from Donald Horne’s rigorous exploration of Australian culture, essays should be founded on reportage, and bring light to a person or issue that helps us to understand who we are now.
Call for entries
Deadline
midnight, Monday November 9, 2020.
Aesop and The Saturday Paper have been cultural partners since 2014, promoting the written word through an annual calendar of events. Together, they nurture writers of long-form nonfiction through The Horne Prize, an essay award valued at $15,000.
The Horne Prize will be given for an essay:
Of exceptional quality
Of no more than 3000 words
Written between Friday, September 18 and Monday, November 9, 2020
Addressing an aspect of contemporary Australian life
Incorporating research and analysis
Entrants need not be published or professional writers. The judging panel will consider the quality of writing, depth of research and storytelling of each shortlisted essay.
For a qualitative benchmark, we suggest reading the winning essays from previous years: Rachael Lebeter’s Diary a wildlife carer, Daniel James’s Ten more days, Kerryn Goldsworthy’s The limit of the world, Anna Spargo-Ryan’s The suicide gene, and the work of other prominent contemporary essayists.
Entrants need not be Australian citizens – we seek insights from all writers who are engaged with the theme of ‘Australian life’.