Troy Henderson has won The Australian Fiction Prize for his unpublished manuscript River City, receiving $20,000 in prize money and a $15,000 advance.
When a Brisbane crime boss vanishes, his reluctant son is dragged into a violent power struggle between warring factions, loose-cannon allies, and a city on the brink. River City is a fast-paced, gripping crime thriller that explores themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the murky line between good and evil. Packed with dark humour, unexpected twists and unforgettable characters, it will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the final shot is fired.
Troy Henderson is a fiction writer from Brisbane, Australia, where he has lived his whole life aside from a two-year stint in London. He has a Bachelor of Popular Music and a Masters in Journalism. Troy’s twenties and early thirties were spent playing in bands and immersed in music, and he turned to novel writing seriously in his mid-thirties.
His first book, Head Grenade, was shortlisted in the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize and the Queensland Writers Centre’s Adaptable and Publishable Programs, respectively, and was published in 2023.
His short stories have longlisted in the Australian Writers’ Centre Furious Fiction competition, and placed in the GenreCon Short Story competition, and FLEUR Flash Fiction Contest. In 2024, he was commissioned to contribute to the anthology Is This Working? and also appeared at the 2024 Brisbane Writers Festival.
Literary agent and judge Samuel Bernard said, ‘River City roars to life with the action, grit, and swagger of Brisbane’s underbelly, delivering a cinematic crime story that never takes its foot off the accelerator. With razor-sharp dialogue, magnetic Aussie humour, explosive set pieces, and a thumping pulse, it announces a bold new voice in crime fiction. As soon as I had finished the manuscript, I knew this was going to be a frontrunner for the prize and could well be just the beginning of a franchise-worthy world that the author has created. River City is a thrilling, highly commercial, and very deserving winner of The Australian Fiction Prize for 2025.’
Fiction Publisher Anna Valdinger said, ‘This is exactly the kind of crime fiction that I love – propulsive, energetic, gritty and tremendous fun. With his ragtag cast of cops and criminals awash in banter, blood and betrayals, Troy Henderson has created a vivid world that will hook readers from the first page. With five excellent novels on the shortlist it was a tough challenge for the judges to choose a winner but River City was, in the end, our unanimous pick.’
Troy Henderson said, ‘This is life-changing. It’s an outcome I could only have dreamed of, but it’s happening and I’m so thrilled. The years of writing and rewriting were worth it, and I’m so grateful River City resonated with the judges, giving me this opportunity to reach more readers and spend more time creating. Thank you to HarperCollins and The Australian for opening doors for Australian authors, and to Caroline Overington and the judges for their time and dedication. A special thank you to Anna Valdinger for delivering the good news. I was stunned and can’t wait to continue this journey.’
River City will be published in early 2027.
Presented by The Australian and HarperCollins, The Australian Fiction Prize is an annual prize open to all Australian writers for an unpublished, book-length work of fiction, regardless of age or publishing history.
CONTACT
Hannah Lynch
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