The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced Ann-Marie Priest as the 2025 recipient of the $35,000 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship for her biography Tell it Slant: The Life and Loves of Henry Handel Richardson.
The announcement was made by prize founder Wendy Beckett at an ASA member event in Sydney on 28 October.
Assessors described Priest’s manuscript as “a fresh and rarely seen portrait of a significant author to early twentieth-century Australian literature, bringing to the forefront aspects of Richardson’s gender identity and personal relationships that have previously been overlooked or dismissed”.
They noted, “Priest, with proven research experience and clear, nimble expression, promises to deliver a valuable and impactful biography.”