Rachel Morton wins the Barbara Jefferis Award with her debut novel
The Sun Was Electric Light follows a woman returning to Guatemala in search of somewhere to belong.
Rachel Morton has won the 2026 Barbara Jefferis Award for The Sun Was Electric Light, published by University of Queensland Press. The Australian Society of Authors announced the result in Sydney, Australia, on 10 November at the Colin Simpson Memorial Keynote. The winner receives A$50,000.
In the novel, Ruth leaves a disappointing life in New York and returns to Panajachel, Guatemala, where she was happy ten years earlier. Two very different friendships test her wish to stay and the meaning of belonging to a place. The biennial award recognises Australian novels that give women and girls presence and agency. The jury praised Morton’s way of showing change without necessarily making it depend on dramatic gestures.