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Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer

Congratulations to the 2025 finalists! 

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"The Curse" 

Bronte Coates

Judges' comments: 

This tightly calibrated novel explores with pathos and humour the challenges of one couple’s conception journey. Cleverly told with sharp dialogue and absorbing characterisation, "The Curse" considers the myths, the reality and the absurdities of trying to create a human being. 

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"Easy Living"

Mindy Gill

Judges' comments: 

Set in Australia, Vietnam and India against a literary landscape, this evocative novel is a delicately wrought exploration of identity and power within relationships; in this case between an older established writer and her young lover. With richly drawn settings and thoughtful narrative style, "Easy Living" asks where life ends and art begins.

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"Commonplaces"

Gillian Hagenus

Judges' comments: 

"Commonplaces" is a polished collection of fourteen ‘suburban noir’ short stories. They demonstrate an impressively diverse range of voices, perspectives and ideas, but with the common thread being the strangeness and subversiveness that can exist below ordinary suburban lives. 

Two navy blue pineapples on a yellow-gold background

"The Burning Season" 

Karen Lee

Judges' comments: 

In this fictional political drama, author Karen Lee has crafted a story that is tightly plotted and compellingly paced. With a complex protagonist who is straddling two cultures at home and shifting loyalties in her high-stress role as an advisor to a Federal Senator, "The Burning Season" keeps the reader firmly in its grip from beginning to end. 

Two yellow pineapples appear on a navy blue background.

"The Lyrebirds"

Dani Ringrose

Judges' comments: 

"The Lyrebirds" resonates with Australian gothic style, eco themes and a beautifully articulated sense of place. During one record hot summer in the Blue Mountains, as one family fractures and mysterious giant birds begin to appear, this ambitious storyline melds big ideas with a magic realist bent. 

About the award

This award is part of the Queensland Literary Awards and is awarded for an outstanding unpublished manuscript by an emerging Queensland writer.  

Eligibility 

  • Queensland residents who can provide proof of their current Queensland address.
  • Emerging writers who have never published before.
  • Writers who have published/self-published a book with an ISBN are not eligible to enter.
  • Writers who have previously published individual short stories, poems, articles or essays in magazines, journals, anthologies, or newspapers in print or online.
  • Manuscripts in this category can be:
    • novels
    • collections of short stories
    • novels for children (9+ years of age) and young adults
    • biographies
    • autobiographies
    • memoirs
    • general non-fiction.
  • Entries should be between 40,000 and 100,000 words, except middle-grade novels for children (9+ years of age), which can be 30,000 and over
  • Download the 2025 terms and conditions of entry document for full eligibility criteria.
  • Entry is free for this category.

Prize 

$15,000, plus manuscript development and publication with University of Queensland Press.
Supported by Jenny Summerson through the Queensland Library Foundation. 

2025 Queensland Literary Awards Terms and Conditions of Entry

PDF · 267 KB

Entries to the 2025 Queensland Literary Awards have now closed. Sign up to our mailing list to receive updates on the 2026 program. 

Past winners

Emily Lighezzolo stands in a garden; she has on a bright shirt and dark wavy hair

2024
"Life Drawing"
Emily Lighezzolo

Steve MinOn stands against a wall of dark tiles. Steve wears a black leather jacket.

2023
“First Name Second Name”
Steve MinOn

Yen-Rong Wong in a black and white photo. She is seated with her hands folded, smiling, with glasses and her hair long.

2022
"Things Left Unsaid"
Yen-Rong Wong

Siang Lu, author

2021
"The Whitewash"
Siang Lu

Fiona Robertson stands in a park, against a grey wall. She wears a white shirt and is smiling at the camera

2020
"If You're Happy"
Fiona Robertson

Rhiannon Wilde sits at a desk next to a fiddle leaf fig. She is wearing a floral dress and is smiling.

2019
"Henry Hamlet’s Heart"
Rhiannon Wilde

More information

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Nomination FAQs
Find answers to common questions about nominating for the Queensland Literary Awards.
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Judging process
Find out about the judges and the judging process.
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History of the awards
Discover past Queensland Literary Award winners and finalists.
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