Asher Award

The Asher Literary Award is offered biennially to a female author whose work carries an anti-war theme. The Asher Award is managed by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) on behalf of the Australia Council, and is valued at $12,000.

Made possible by a generous bequest from Mrs Helen Waltraud Rosalie Asher, the Award was established with the Australia Council in 2005.

Helen Asher, who also wrote as Helen Ulrich, was the author of Tilly’s Fortunes (Penguin, 1986). Her shorter works of fiction were published in various anthologies.

A post-WWII German refugee, Helen was deeply committed to Australia’s artistic and cultural life. Both Helen and her husband Mervyn were active in Sydney’s literary community.

Key dates

• Entries open: Wednesday 7^th June 2017

• Entries close: Wednesday 19^th July 2017 COB

• Results announced: Saturday 11th November 2017

Submission guidelines:

Entrants

1. Entrants must be female, an Australian citizen or permanent resident and at least 18 years of age.
2. Entrants may submit one entry only.
3. Entrants may be:
   1. writers; or
   2. a publisher or agent submitting on behalf of a writer; or
   3. the estate of a deceased writer, provided that the estate owns the copyright in the entry.

If an entry is entered by a publisher or agent, the writer’s consent to enter the work must be obtained. The writer’s personal contact details must be included on the submission form.

Entries

1. To be eligible, entries must carry a strong anti-war message or theme.
2. Entries will be accepted in the following genres: fiction, literary non-fiction (defined as works of biography, autobiography, essays, histories, literary criticism or analytical prose but excluding edited and compiled publications), children’s literature, poetry, creative writing for performance, screen or new media.
3. Single poems and single short stories are not admissible – collections are acceptable but only by a single poet.
4. Entries must be publicly available at, or prior to, the time of entry: books, ebooks and DVDs should have ISBNs and must be available for commercial sale; plays must have been performed before a general audience; and scripts must have been publicly screened or broadcast.
5. Entries must have been first published, or in the case of drama, first performed, or in the case of screen or new media first displayed/screened, in Australia between 1 July 2015 – 27 June 2017 (“Eligibility Period”). Full details of publication, performance and screening must be included in the submission form.
6. Entrants may submit works published overseas in the Eligibility Period, provided that the writer is an Australian citizen or holds permanent residency.
7. All entries must be primarily in the English language. Bilingual editions are eligible, as are books first published in another language and then translated into English and first published in English during the Eligibility Period.
8. Revised editions of books will not be considered unless the revisions are so substantial that the book is, in effect, a new work. It is the writer/publisher’s responsibility to identify the new material and to include one copy of the original edition as part of the entry.

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