Writers Victoria is proud to partner with LIMINAL and Pantera Press for the LIMINAL & Pantera Press Nonfiction Prize. Read on for a full media release from Pantera Press, or read over on the Pantera Press website:
Following the success of the 2019 LIMINAL Fiction Prize and the 2020 anthology Collisions, we are thrilled to announce the LIMINAL & Pantera Press Nonfiction Prize for First Nations writers and Australian writers of colour, to be judged by award-winning writer Brian Castro, writer and researcher Dr Shakira Hussein, and writer Maddee Clark.
The Prize calls for writing on the theme of ‘archive’: archives are not merely sites where knowledge is retrieved, but sites where knowledge is produced. What is placed in an archive is often a monument to political authority – and the narrative that authority wishes to tell. When we pick up pieces of the past, we must ask: what stories do they tell, and whose do they elide?
The winner will receive $10,000 in prize money, the runner-up will receive $2,000, and the other longlisted writers will each receive $300. Pantera Press will publish these pieces in an anthology in 2022 and 100% of profits from the book’s sales will go towards funding LIMINAL’s future endeavours. Submissions open on Saturday 1 May.
Editor Leah Jing McIntosh said, ‘As an anti-racist literary platform, LIMINAL actively works against structuralised racism, to elevate and create opportunities for writers of colour, and First Nations writers. This prize will make space for talented writers who have been historically ignored by Australian literary awards, and, more broadly, the Australian literary industry. Our first prize asked for fictions of the future – now, we are asking writers to consider the archive, and to think through received histories. I am absolutely thrilled to continue our partnership with Pantera Press, as we work together to support and publish this essential work.’
Pantera Press CEO & Co-founder Ali Green said, ‘As a purpose-led company, positive societal impact has been at the core of our business model since our inception in 2008. Our desire to champion writing culture influences everything we do: from nurturing emerging voices, funding important projects and publishing books that spark imagination, conversation and change. We’re delighted and honoured to partner with the LIMINAL team, having been long-time admirers of the meaningful work that they do. We believe this is an opportunity to shape conversations in Australia and to recognise, and even discover, some truly outstanding Australian writers and storytellers.’
The LIMINAL Fiction Prize was first established in 2019, following editor Leah Jing McIntosh’s research into Australian literary prizes, which confirmed a historical bias in favour of white writers. The Prize was the first of its kind in Australia and Collisions, the subsequent anthology of longlisted writers, was published by Pantera Press in 2020 to critical acclaim. Leah Jing McIntosh will also appear alongside the LIMINAL Fiction Prize winner Bryant Apolonio, and fellow Collisions contributors Eda Gunaydin, Naima Ibrahim and Mykaela Saunders at Sydney Writers’ Festival on Saturday 1 May.
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‘Some of Australia’s best writing…Every story in this anthology has earnt its place. Collisions is full of humour, pathos, anger, warmth, and compassion. Above all, it is full of outstanding writing.’ GlamAdelaide
‘[Reading Collisions] feels personal – like tracing the experiences of people you know, the family you haven’t seen, looking into the spaces that are so often relegated to the margins.’
marie claire
‘A complex and enriching contribution to the canon of contemporary Australian literature’ Kill Your Darlings
‘This anthology is a refreshing disruption of Australia’s literary mainstream…a stunning addition to any reader’s bookshelf.’ The Saturday Paper
‘Every reader in this country needs to acquaint themselves with [these writers’] words.’ The Age
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For full submission guidelines and terms and conditions, please visit the LIMINAL & Pantera Press Nonfiction Prize website.
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The LIMINAL & Pantera Press Nonfiction Prize 2021 is supported by the Pantera Press Foundation in partnership with Writers Victoria.