Young Writers Award

WINNER - 'Dog House' by Grace Hammond

Griffith Review will work with Grace to publish ‘Dog House’, but you can read an exclusive excerpt here. 

First runner up - 'Feed it to the dog' by Ash Shirvington

Second runner up - 'Candles' by Svetlana Sterlin

Third runner up - 'Propagation' by Constance Allan

Congratulations to Ash, Svetlana, and Constance, the Runner's Up for Young Writers Award 2023. They will each receive $500 and a membership to Queensland Writers Centre. 

In addition, judges acknowledged five highly commended writers:

HIGHLY COMMENDED - 'The Best of Times' by Ulric Nieminen

HIGHLY COMMENDED - 'Raised Amongst the Spinifex' by Madlyn Grant

HIGHLY COMMENDED - 'Dolorosa and the Saint' by Pancho Symes

HIGHLY COMMENDED - 'Until You Are Warm and Dead' by Mitchell Grant

HIGHLY COMMENDED - 'Lantana' by Emily Winter
 

Congratulations to Ulric, Madlyn, Pancho, Mitchell and Emily, for their highly commended entries.

Judges' Comments

"The stories fielded in this year’s Young Writers Award proved yet again to be full of striking talent and ambitious imagination. The judges were consistently surprised by both the degree of literary skill on display and widely ranging subject matter that the writers chose to explore. Deciding finalists from this year’s enormous cohort was no easy task, with no two authors were alike, other than in the strength of their voices and the uncompromising vision of their stories".

Find out more about the judging panel and process here.

Thank you to all who entered their work in the Young Writers Award 2023. 

The calibre of work being produced by Queensland's young writers improves every year, and is testament to the strength of emerging talent across the state.

Please keep writing - State Library will run the Young Writers Award again in 2024 and we look forward to reading your stories!