Rachel Morton's 'The Sun Was Electric Light' shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis Award
We are delighted to announce that Rachel Morton's The Sun Was Electric Light has been shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis Award!
The Barbara Jefferis Award is offered biennially for “the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society”.
Barbara Jefferis was a feminist, a founding member of the Australian Society of Authors, its first woman President and, in the words of Thomas Keneally, “a rare being amongst authors, being both a fine writer but also organisationally gifted. She was a professional and internationally published writer long before most of us dreamed of such things”.
The Award is supported by the Barbara Jefferis Literary Fund, which was established as a result of a bequest from Barbara Jefferis’ husband, ABC film critic John Hinde, who died in 2006. The Australian Society of Authors is the Trustee of the Fund.
In 2026, the Award prize pool is valued at $55,000, with $50,000 for the winner and $5,000 to be shared among the short-listed authors, making this one of the most generous literary awards in Australia.
The key prize announcement dates are:
- Shortlist announced: 16 September 2026
- Announcement of the winner : Early November 2026, at the Colin Simpson Memorial Keynote
See the full shortlist and read the judges' comments here.
Congratulations to Rachel!
