# Fiona McFarlane

Fiona McFarlane (born 1978) is an Australian author, best known for her novel The Night Guest (2013) and her collections of short stories The High Places (2016) and Highway Thirteen (2024). She is a recipient of the Voss Literary Prize, the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the Nita Kibble Literary Award.

## Life and career

McFarlane was born in Sydney, Australia in 1978. She studied English at the University of Sydney, the University of Cambridge and the University of Texas at Austin.
Her debut novel, The Night Guest, was published in 2013 and is about a retired widow who lives alone and suffers from dementia. It won the Voss Literary Prize and the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, the Stella Prize and the Guardian First Book Award.
In 2017, McFarlane won the Dylan Thomas Prize for her collection of short stories, The High Places.
She was shortlisted for the Fiction Book Award at the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards and for the Fiction Award at the 2023 Prime Minister's Literary Awards for The Sun Walks Down (2022).
In 2025, her short story collection Highway Thirteen was shortlisted for The Story Prize.
McFarlane's writing has also appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, Southerly and The New Yorker.

## Literary

| Year | Title | Award | Category | Result |
| 2013 | The Night Guest | Los Angeles Times Book Prize | Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | Australian Book Industry Awards | Literary Fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | Barbara Jefferis Award | — | Won |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | Guardian First Book Award | — | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | Indie Book Awards | Debut Fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | Miles Franklin Award | — | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | UTS Glenda Adams Award | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | Nita Kibble Literary Awards | Dobbie Literary Award | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | Prime Minister's Literary Awards | Fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | The Readings Prize | — | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | Stella Prize | — | Shortlisted |
| 2014 | The Night Guest | Voss Literary Prize | — | Won |
| 2016 | The High Places | Queensland Literary Awards | Short Story Collection | Won |
| 2017 | The High Places | ALS Gold Medal | — | Longlisted |
| 2017 | The High Places | Dylan Thomas Prize | — | Won |
| 2017 | The High Places | Stella Prize | — | Longlisted |
| 2018 | The High Places | Nita Kibble Literary Awards | Nita B Kibble Literary Award | Won |
| 2023 | The Sun Walks Down | The Age Book of the Year Awards | Fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2023 | The Sun Walks Down | ARA Historical Novel Prize | Adult | Longlisted |
| 2023 | The Sun Walks Down | Australian Book Industry Awards | Literary Fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2023 | The Sun Walks Down | Indie Book Awards | Fiction | Longlisted |
| 2023 | The Sun Walks Down | Prime Minister's Literary Awards | Fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2023 | The Sun Walks Down | Walter Scott Prize | — | Shortlisted |
| 2024 | The Sun Walks Down | New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Christina Stead Prize for Fiction | Shortlisted |
| 2024 | The Sun Walks Down | New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | People's Choice Award | Shortlisted |
| 2025 | Highway Thirteen | The Story Prize | — | Pending |
| 2025 | Highway Thirteen | Victorian Premier's Literary Awards | Fiction | Won |