Katherine Allum has won the 2023 Fogarty Literary Award for her novel The Skeleton House.

The Fogarty Literary Award is for Western Australian writers aged 18 to 35. Allum has received a cash prize of $20,000 and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press for her winning manuscript The Skeleton House.

The Skeleton House is a work of literary fiction set in a small town in the Nevada desert. The novel follows Meg, mother of two and married to Kyle who everyone thinks is a perfect husband. But as Kyle builds his dream home, tensions arise as Meg desires more freedom.

Fremantle Press CEO Alex Allan said, ‘Once again the Fogarty Award is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Not only is Katherine a talented writer with an amazing manuscript but her drive and her support for others makes us even more excited to be working with her. She epitomises the literary leadership that is so important to the values and mission of the Fogarty Foundation.’

Interestingly Katherine Allum has previously been connected to the Award. In 2019 Katherine was visiting Texas when her partner, author Michael Burrows, had to return to Australia to accept his shortlisting for the Fogarty Literary Award for Where the Line Breaks. You can check out his feature with us from 2020 here.

The Skeleton House is scheduled for publication in 2024. Discover more about the Award here.