About The Pascall Prize

The purpose of the Pascall Prize is to reward a critic or reviewer whose work changes the perceptions of Australians, opens their eyes to a different perspective of their culture, develops a new interest in the subject and is both imaginative and creative.

The Pascall Prize celebrates incisive and well-crafted critical writing in areas including literature, art, architecture, food and wine, music, theatre, film, television, radio.

Geraldine Pascall

Geraldine Pascall was a flamboyant journalist who in 1983, at the age of 38, died suddenly of a stroke. As she did not have a Will, her Estate passed to her father, Fred Pascall. Fred approached Adrian Read, a close friend of Geraldine's, with the aim to establish a memorial to his daughter.

Gridiger Lawyers prepared the legal documents to establish the Geraldine Pascall Foundation and the Pascall Prize.

Originally the Pascall Prize was conceived as a biennial literary award for creative writers who had made original and distinctive contributions to Australia's cultural life.

However, in 1990, to better reflect the work and personal interests of the late Geraldine Pascall, it was decided that the Prize should be awarded annually to a critic or reviewer who contributed regularly in Australia to a newspaper, periodical, or on radio or television. This has now been extended to include the internet.

It was also agreed that the Pascall Prize would be awarded to a critic working in the areas of literature, art (including design and architecture), food and or wine, music, musical theatre, dance and or drama, film, television or radio. Only sport was specifically excluded.