RSL Ondaatje Prize 2023 Longlist Announced

The 2023 RSL Ondaatje longlist is:

Anthony Anaxagorou, Heritage Aesthetics (Granta Poetry)
Seán Hewitt, All Down Darkness Wide (Vintage)
Philippa Holloway, The Half-life of Snails (Parthian Books)
Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (Sort of Books)
Michelle de Kretser, Scary Monsters (Allen & Unwin)
Zaffar Kunial, England’s Green (Faber & Faber)
Darren McGarvey, The Social Distance Between Us (Ebury Press)
Priscilla Morris, Black Butterflies (Duckworth)
Marguerite Poland, A Sin of Omission (EnvelopeBooks)

Samira Ahmed, said: “I’ve loved how many of these books celebrate the endurance of love and decency in the face of injustice – from 19th century British-ruled South Africa, to the nuclear power politics of Cumbria and Ukraine, and the tearing apart of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War.”

The shortlist will be announced on Wednesday 26 April, with the winner being revealed on Wednesday 10 May.

Become a Member

Our Members are champions of literature. Their support makes our engagement work in schools and prisons possible and they enable us to celebrate literature in all its wonderful diversity. As a thank you, we give them all the joys of a literary festival and book club rolled into one, all year round.