Bakers Lane Books launches with $10,000 prize to support emerging women writers

Published 2 days ago• 4 minute read

There’s a new publishing house in Australia, with the launch of Bakers Lane Books, an independent outfit founded by long-time publishing veteran Ginny Grant. Bakers Lane Books’ remit is to release a select number of high-quality fiction and nonfiction titles each year, with a mission to support underrepresented and diverse Australian voices.

“After more than two decades in trade publishing, it’s a dream to be able to back the authors I believe in – and create a space where new talent can thrive,” says Grant. “We know there are extraordinary writers in this country who aren’t being seen or published, and we want to help change that.”

In tandem with its launch, Bakers Lane is also introducing its flagship initiative to tackle persistent gender inequity in the literary world with the advent of the Fearless Prize – a $10,000 award for an unpublished manuscript by an Australian woman writer. Submissions will open soon and the prize will be published under the house’s Fearless Press imprint, which will focus on stories by women in all their diversity.

“In a market where debut authors are finding it harder than ever to break through, we’re here to make space” explains Grant. “The Fearless Prize is about rewriting the rules of who gets published, who gets seen and whose stories get told.”

The first title from Fearless Press, The One Remaining, by Paula McLean, will be released in October this year.

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Poetry Month returns with nationwide coverage

Poetry Month is an initiative of Red Room Poetry, the only organisation in Australia that consistently commissions poets and produces live poetry events nationally.

This year’s program includes both in-person and online events as well as workshops.

In-person events:
Ritual: A Night of Muslim Australian Poetry at PYT Fairfieldfeaturing Sweatshop Literacy Movement on the release of the world’s first collection of Muslim-Australian poetry Ritual
TAS Poetry Month Showcase at MONA in Hobart
Ekphrastic Fantastic: Art After Hours at the Art Gallery of NSW featuring Eunice Andrada, Nardi Simpson, Barrina South, Emily Stewart, Omar Sakr, Safdar Ahmed, Richard Tipping, Claudia Nicolson and Salote Tawale, hosted by Red Room Poetry’s Nicole Smede
WA Poetry Month Showcase at Fremantle Library
Byron Showcase Beyond the Lines at Byron Writers Festival
Poetry As Medicine at State Library of SA featuring Natalie Harkin, Heather Taylor Johnson, Peter Goldsworthy and Tessa Leon
Ritual: A Night of Muslim Australian Poetry at PYT Fairfieldfeaturing Sweatshop Literacy Movement on the release of the world’s first collection of Muslim-Australian poetry Ritual
The Hatred of Poetry Great Debate at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre featuring Evelyn Araluen, David Quirk, Eloise Grills, PiO, Suren Jayemanne, Sez, Isabella Eichler-Onus, Vidya Rajan and Leah Senior
Poetry After Dark at Dymocks Sydney performance and after-work panel
Young, Gifted and Black: Africa in Australia Showcase at The Vanguardin Sydney
Writers at Work: Q&A with Sarah Holland-Batt at the University of Sydney
Top Poems of the 21st Century at the State Library of NSW featuring Sarah Holland-Batt and Maxine Beneba Clarke presented with ABC Radio National
The National Poetry Month Gala at the State Library of NSW
Shortwave VS Red Room Poetry: Short Films at the Sydney Opera House premiering a new film commissioned by Nyaluak Leth, bookended by 15 Australian poetry short films and live performances

Online events:
NT Poetry, Politics and Land: Online Panel with Red Dirt Poetry Festival
Pathways for Poets: An Industry Discussion with ASA
Accessible Online Open Mic with Writers Victoria

and more…

Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian. She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025). Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy

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