Karen Howie Casey is a fiction writer and communications professional. Her debut novel won the ASA/HQ Fiction Prize and is due out with HQ HarperCollins in early 2028.

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Bio

Karen Howie Casey is the winner of the 2026 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize for her manuscript All the Little Wide Worlds. She is a former journalist, a short and long-form fiction writer, and a communications professional. She grew up in Melbourne and now lives on a windy hill in West Gippsland with her husband, three teens and a handful of pets.

Karen’s short fiction has won or placed in several awards and many (many) moons ago, her first unpublished manuscript was long listed for the Australian Vogel Literary Award.

She has independently published a children’s chapter book series to support Australian farmers through the Aussie Helpers charity, receiving a Regional Arts Victoria grant to complete the project. A debacle of a family road trip and a solid sense of humour then left her little choice but to throw in a fun travel memoir, The Misadventures of the Travelling Quirkus.

Karen is now working on her fourth manuscript and the release of her award-winning debut novel with HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins.

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Books

All the Little Wide Worlds

All the Little Wide Worlds won the ASA/HQ Fiction Prize and is due to be published with HQ HarperCollins in early 2028.

Check out these links to see what judges said about the manuscript and find out what it’s about.

Independently published books

Karen has independently published a children’s series and a travel memoir. Ask your local bookstore to order from distributor Ingram Spark, or find them online at Booktopia, Amazon, Kogan and other stores. If you live in Gippsland, Pages HQ stocks the children’s series.

  • The Extraordinary, Unordinary Gum Tree
  • The Extraordinary Tom Fink
  • The Extraordinary Reunion
  • The Misadventures of the Travelling Quirkus
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