Romance Writers of Australia Gala Awards Presentation – 22 August

Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) is excited to announce that their annual awards presentation, celebrating the best romance books of the year, will take place online via RWA’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwMw8vhbFZ3Z93ftlSyDiOA) at 7:00 PM AEST on Saturday 22 August 2020.

This presentation will see the announcement of RWA’s RuBY AWARDS, Australia’s premier romance genre award and the only one of its kind in Australia. The contest is open annually to any Australian or New Zealand based author who has published a romance or romantic elements book.

Winners will be announced in six categories: Contemporary Romance; Historical Romance; Romantic Elements; Romantic Suspense; Speculative Fiction; and Novella. Finalists are detailed on the attached page.

Also announced on the night will be:

• The winner of the EMERALD Award which is again, the only award of its kind in Australia, designed to mirror the submissions process for unpublished authors;
• The winner of the SAPPHIRE Award, an award for published authors to try their hand at a different genre or sub-genre with an unpublished manuscript;
• The winner of the VALERIE PARV Award, wherein the winning unpublished author is mentored for a year by one of Australia’s most successful authors, Ms Valerie Parv AM;
• The winner of the ROMANCE MEDIA AWARD, recognising outstanding reporting of romance in the last 12 months; and
• The winner of the LYNNE WILDING MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD recognising an individual’s outstanding voluntary contribution to RWA in the past 12 months and named in honour of a very special, and founding, member of RWA, Ms Lynne Wilding.

Already announced winners of several RWA contests (the RIPPING START, FIRST KISS and SELLING SYNOPSIS) along with the winners of RWA’s anthology contests – SWEET TREATS and SPICY BITES – will also be celebrated.

Romance Writers of Australia is a non-profit membership organisation established to promote excellence in romantic fiction, to help aspiring writers become published and published authors to maintain and establish their careers, and to provide continuing support for romance writers – whatever their genre – within the romance publishing industry.

Finalists in the RuBY award are listed below.