2026 Penguin Literary Prize Shortlist

Penguin Random House Australia (PRH AU) is thrilled to announce the shortlist for the 2026 Penguin Literary Prize. The Prize, launched in 2017, was established to discover, nurture and develop literary fiction writers, providing a platform for new and diverse voices to emerge.

The shortlisted titles are:

• The Jars of Arwen Dalmatian by Charlie Archbold. An oyster farmer’s son grows up close to two sisters until achildhood tragedy tears them apart. Years later, he reunites with the younger sister. Charlie Archbold is based in Adelaide, SA
• Driftwood by Brooke Maddison. Driftwood explores how traumatic events reverberate throughout families andquestions how society expects people to deal with childhood abuse. Brooke Maddison is based in Brisbane, QLD
• The Trailing Edge of Yesterday by Barry Dean. After her grandmother’s death, a young woman uncoversphotographs that bind her to a famous photographer’s suicide and a woman’s fatal car crash. Barry Dean is based in Abercrombie, NSW
• With All the Purpose of Bees by Tee Linden. Aiella, a naïve and lonely artificial human, lives in a remote labrun as part of the Prometheus Project. Aiella must decide what life and death is to someone who is not technically alive, and what limits she might push to preserve it. Tee Linden lives in Sydney, NSW
• An Allergy by Sunil Badami. An Allergy explores the uncertainties of identity, the fictions of history and the pleasures and regrets of desire. Sunil Badami is based in Sydney, NSW
• The Summer We Changed the Ending by Katrina Hall. One long hot summer in the early 1980s, two young women navigate the unwritten rules of life in an Australian beach town. Mandy has an idea that might change everything, for everyone in their town. Katrina Hall is based in Melbourne, VIC

Since its inception, the Penguin Literary Prize has received submissions from across Australia in a variety of genres and subjects with each winner going on to publish with PRH AU and many selling international and foreign language rights, spreading Australian literature from the UK to Estonia and beyond. 

Meredith Curnow, Publisher at PRH AU said, ‘While exploring Australian beach towns and islands, a trove of photographs, the autonomy of a robot, oyster farms and illnesses, the writers on our shortlist showed the staff across PRH AU new ways to see and feel about ourselves and the world. Congratulations to each of them. There are so many wonderful Australian novels looking for readers. With the other judges, I cannot wait to explore these stories.’

Offering aspiring authors from across Australia the chance to become a part of the Penguin Random House community, the prize includes $20,000 and the opportunity for the winner to publish with PRH AU.

Previous winners include Hitch by Kathryn Hind (2018), The Spill by Imbi Neeme (2019), The Rabbits by Sophie Overett (2020), Denizen by James McKenzie Watson (2021), On A Bright Hillside in Paradise by Annette Higgs (2022), Jade and Emerald by Michelle See-Tho (2023), The Occupation by Chloe Adams (2024) and Touch Grass by Mary Colussi (2025).

The winner will be announced by Penguin Random House Australia on Thursday 11 June 2026.