> Skip to content

Article  •  15 July 2025

 

Write It Fellowship Shortlist 2025

We are thrilled to announce the shortlist for the Write It Fellowship 2025.

We are thrilled to announce the shortlist for Write It, a fellowship established to discover, nurture and develop writers across all genres with a specific focus on under-represented communities.

Shortlist:

  • Ceilidh Newbury – Skates, Dates, and other Deadly Weapons (Young Adult Thriller)
  • Dayle Fogarty – After Dark (Speculative Fiction/New Adult)
  • Dorian Sutton – The Passenger (Literary/Coming of Age)
  • Jessica Landford – Rory Finch and the Empty House (Young Adult Spy Thriller)
  • Judith Monkhouse – Bitter Rain (Fiction)
  • Jules Ng – A Little Feverish (Literary Fiction)
  • Kait Newell – The Bones Are Here (Historical Romance)
  • Naomi Fogarty – The White Heart (Fantasy/Supernatural)
  • Skye Cusack – Checked Out (Romantic Comedy)
  • Tracey-Lee Daranjo – A Long Forgetting (Memoir/Non-Fiction)
  • Violet Marr – The Fine Art of Borrowing a Faerie (Fantasy)

With the aim of finding writing that better represents the society in which we live, Penguin Random House Australia (PRH AU) established the Write It Fellowship in 2018 to engage with new writing talent who have interesting and diverse stories to tell, such as writers from a socio-economically marginalised background, LGBTQIA+, First Nations, CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) and/or writers with a disability.

This year we received an unprecedented number of entries, more than double those of previous years, underscoring the importance of fellowships that seek to amplify under-represented voices and foster a more inclusive publishing landscape.

Catherine Hill, Head of Editorial at PRH AU, said, ‘The quality of the 2025 submissions was impressive, with a wide variety of genres and styles. We had a lot of fun reading, and it was hard to pick the shortlist amid a great deal of talent. We congratulate the writers on our 2025 list and are looking forward to reading their full manuscripts.’

The successful applicants will be mentored by PRH AU editors across twelve months with the hope of publication. Additionally, as part of the fellowship, each of the successful applicants will receive a $2,000 writing grant and the opportunity to participate in a PRH AU Open House Session to learn about various aspects of the publishing process, including what goes into acquiring, editing, marketing, publicising and selling a book.

The successful applicants will be announced during the week of Monday 10 November 2025.

More features

See all
Article
Penguin Random House is now publishing three Write It authors

Learn about the Write It Fellowship and the three authors that Penguin Random House Australia is publishing from the program.

News
Write It Fellowship recipients 2023

We're delighted to announce the recipients of the 2023 Write It Fellowship.

News
Write It Fellowship 2023 now open

Applications for the 2023 Write It Fellowship are now closed.

News
Write It Fellowship recipients 2021

We're delighted to announce the recipients of the 2021 Write It Fellowship.

News
Write It Fellowship recipients 2019

Penguin Random House is thrilled to announce the recipients of the inaugural Write It Fellowship.

News
Write It Fellowship shortlist

The fellowship recipients will be announced 28 June 2019.

Article
Booker Prize shortlist 2025

The shortlist for the 2025 Booker Prize has been announced, with four Penguin Random House titles named this year.

Article
QUIZ: What kind of mullet are you?

Take this quiz to find out what type of mullet you are, in honour of Nick Sharratt’s book, Mullets.

Article
Your guide to Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series

Here’s what you need to know about Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series – including which order to read the books!

Article
10 of the best fantasy books you don't want to miss

Check out some of the best fantasy books with unique magic systems.

Article
Books we’d recommend to Conrad Fisher

8 books Conrad Fisher would love (or learn from).

Article
10 black cat boyfriends from must-read books

It’s official: the internet has dubbed Conrad Fisher a ‘black cat boyfriend’. Here are a few other black cat book boyfriends to keep you swooning.

Looking for more articles?

See all articles