The Rachel Funari Prize For Fiction 2023
Entries for the 2023 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction are now open!
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The 2023 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction is accepting entries of creative, insightful fiction up to 2000 words that engage with the theme REVOLT.
The competition is open to all women and non-binary writers residing in Australia.
All entries must be original, previously unpublished, and unperformed.
This prize is held in honour of Lip’s late founding editor, Rachel Funari, in recognition of her contribution to the arts.
Winner of the 2022 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction, Zarin Nuzhat, said:
“Winning the Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction in 2022 finally made me feel as though writing was something that was meant to be part of my life. My day job does not have anything to do with creative writing, so my stories are generally scrawled in bursts and buried away onto dusty shelves. For the first time I felt brave enough to share my work with my friends and family. The response was overwhelming. The opportunity to write for a prize that helps often marginalised voices emerge into the literary community has been invaluable. It is ultimately a tangible way to take my writing to the next level.”
You can read Zarin’s winning story, Sanjida Learns to Drive, here.
All entries must be:
- Original pieces of writing, up to 2000 words that engage with the theme
- Previously unpublished, unperformed, and not currently under consideration for publication or entered into any other competition
- Written by Australian residents
- Written by women or non-binary writers
- Received via email ([email protected]) between Tuesday 7th March 2023 and 9pm Friday 21st April 2023
*Entries are NOW OPEN and close 9pm Friday 21st April 2023*
The 2023 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction will be judged by Lip’s editors, as well as our esteemed judges Kate Mildenhall, Sara El Sayed and Katherine Larsen.
Kate Mildenhall is the author of Skylarking (2016) and The Mother Fault (2020). She co-hosts The First Time podcast, a podcast about the first time you publish a book. Kate lives on Wurundjeri lands in Hurstbridge with her partner and two children. She is currently undertaking a PhD in creative process at RMIT University. Her forthcoming third novel is The Hummingbird Effect.
Sara El Sayed is a writer based in Meanjin (Brisbane). Her debut memoir Muddy People was shortlisted for the 2022 Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance, the University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award, and the People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award. In 2020 she received a Queensland Writers Fellowship, and was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award.
Katherine Larsen is the founder and publisher of Debut Books, based in Naarm (Melbourne). After more than a decade working as a bookseller, book reviewer, and within traditional publishing spaces, she is on a mission to normalise all kinds of storytelling so that people know their stories matter. By engaging with storytelling from a place of worthiness, Katherine aims to publish with a social conscience, nourish a love of reading, commit to continual learning and leave the world in a better place than she found it.
The judges of the 2023 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction (L-R): Kate Mildenhall, Sara El Sayed, and Katherine Larsen
This year’s prize is supported by Penguin Random House Australia, Ultimo Press, UQP, Scribe Publications, Aniko Press, Fremantle Press, and the Queensland Writers Centre.
The winners of the 2023 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction will be announced in June
FIRST PLACE
- $1000 cash prize
- A book pack courtesy of our sponsors
- Publication on our website
SECOND PLACE
- $500 cash prize
- A book pack courtesy of our sponsors
- Publication on our website
THIRD PLACE
- $250 cash prize
- A book pack courtesy of our sponsors
- Publication on our website
BEST ENTRY FROM A QUEENSLAND RESIDENT
- A 12-month membership to the Queensland Writers Centre
The sponsors of the 2023 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction
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FAQs
How much does it cost to enter? How do I pay?
It costs $10 to enter. You can pay via PayPal or Direct Debit to Lip Magazine. Please be sure to attach your transaction receipt to the entry email.
Paypal: Pay to [email protected] (Visit our Store to do this.)
Direct Debit Details:
Acct name: Lip Magazine
Act No: 270604
BSB: 033067
+ please send us a copy of the receipt to [email protected]
How many times can I enter?
One entry only per person will be accepted. Entries must be unpublished, unperformed, and not currently under consideration for publication or entered into any other competition.
How do I enter?
Send your entry as a Word document attachment to [email protected] with the subject line ‘2023 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction entry’. The file name of the Word document should be the title of your story.
As entries are judged blind, please do not include your name or contact details within the Word document itself.
Your entry fee receipt should also be attached to the submission email.
By entering this competition, you are agreeing to the following conditions:
- Your entry is an original piece of writing up to 2000 words that engages with the theme
- Your entry is previously unpublished, unperformed, and not currently under consideration for publication or entered into any other competition
- You are an Australian resident
- You are a woman or non-binary writer
- Your entry is received by us via email ([email protected]) before 9pm Friday 21st April 2023
- Lip may publish your work and/or part of your work online and/or in print, should your entry win or place in the competition. Lip assumes First Rights to publish the work online and/or in print. (Copyright will remain with the author.)
- The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
I write for Lip. Can I enter?
Entries will be judged blind, so yes, Lip writers can enter. Editorial staff are ineligible.
I’m an overseas writer. Can I enter?
The Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction is open to Australian residents only at this stage.
Good luck!
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About the Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction
The Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction is a themed fiction competition, open to all women and non-binary writers.
Writers are invited to submit previously unpublished and unperformed pieces of short fiction up to 2000 words that engage with the theme.
This prize is held in honour of Lip’s late founding editor, Rachel Funari, in recognition of her contribution to the arts.
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We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
