The Year We Escaped Shortlisted for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize - CYA Category

Dear friends,

Thank you all so much for your ongoing support of my latest novel, The Year We Escaped. It means the world to me.

I’m delighted to share that The Year We Escaped has been shortlisted for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize – Children & Young Adult (CYA) Category, together with Moonboy by Anna Ciddor and The Midwatch by Judith Rossell.

The judging panel for this year’s CYA Category includes Dr Mark Macleod (Chair), Rebecca Lim and Belinda Murrell. According to Chair, Dr Mark Macleod: 

“This year's longlist indicated a generational change in the ways Australian fiction writers have conceived of 'history': from a provincial mindset of the great exploits of outstanding men seeking excitement elsewhere, through a parochial preoccupation with subject matter that was exclusively Australian, to now a more balanced acknowledgment of Australia - including its long First Nations history - in a mutually meaningful international context. Anticipating future developments, the judges noted that 'an international context', however, still means basically European. We encourage writers and their publishers to explore the potentially rich historical narratives of Australians who trace their cultural heritage back to countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, North America, and the Pacific.

Perhaps the fact that this year's shortlist, and most of the longlisted titles, were written by women reflects the move away from patriarchal history. Perhaps, free of conventional hierarchies, women have been able to claim the space of what is historically significant in the increasingly diverse range of Australian lives. Whatever the reason, we encourage writers to explore more diverse modes of storytelling. It would be great to see more historical fiction for  junior readers and more novels using illustration to advance the narrative, as one title on the shortlist does.

The strength of this year's shortlist nevertheless points to an exciting future for Australian historical fiction.”

Winners will be announced on Thursday 16 October during an award ceremony to be held at the Sydney Mint.

I look forward to sharing more very soon!

Suzanne xx