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2023 marks 34 years of Stanton Library and North Sydney Council celebrating the writing talent of young people in our community with our annual Young Writers' Award since 1989.
Young people aged 11 to 18 years old are invited to submit either one poem or one short story not exceeding 750 words for the Nan Manefield Young Writers’ Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 competition. We appreciate everyone who submitted their entries. Thank you!
Meet the Judges
Erin Gough
Erin Gough is a fiction writer whose stories have been published in many journals and anthologies. Her second novel, Amelia Westlake, has won the Readings Young Adult Book prize and the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and continues to be shortlisted for many more.
Ursula Dubosarsky
Ursula Dubosarsky is a well-known author of over 50 books for children and young adults. She has been a nominee for the Hans Christian Anderson and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards. And has won more writing awards than we can count including the Premiers Literary Awards 9 times over, more than any other author. She was also the 2020-2021 Australian Children’s Laureate.
Tim Sinclair
Tim Sinclair is a writer of young adult fiction and poetry. His latest book, RUN, is a parkour thriller set in Sydney that was a CBCA Notable Book and was also longlisted for the Inky Awards. His other works include the novel Nine Hours North, Vapour Trails poetry collection, and a short story in the Growing Up Queer in Australia anthology.
Will Kostakis
Will Kostakis is a writer of all things, from celebrity news stories, to cease and desist letters, to tweets for professional wrestlers. He’s best known for his award-winning YA novels, The Sidekicks and The First Third. He was a teenager when his first novel, Loathing Lola, was published. His latest novel series, Monuments, has been shortlisted in the 2020 Indie Book Awards.
Sue Whiting
Sue Whiting is an acclaimed children’s and YA author and editor who has worked in publishing for more than twenty years. She is the author of numerous books, including the bestselling Missing, the award-winning A Swim in the Sea and a number of CBCA Notable Books. The Book of Chance was shortlisted for the 2021 CBCA Book of the Year Awards and Highly Commended in the 2021 Davitt Awards.
2023 Award Winners
Thank you to all of the young writers who entered into our 2023 Nan Manefield Young Writer's Award!
Below are all the winning entries from each age category, including winners, highly commended and commended.
16-18 years
Winner: Ethan Li - Moving Home
Highly Commended: Amadea Luong - The Sparrow Reborn
Commended: Cameron Masters - Inner Demons
15 years
Winner: Andy Elias - Reflections of Virgina E. Clemm
Highly Commended: Oliver Macalister - I am AI 217
Commended: Angelina Mei - Desperate
14 years
Winner: Catherine Grice - Bak Skylene
Highly Commended: Jimin Jeon - Untitled
Commended: Adrita Saha - Afterglow
13 years
Winner: Anthony Li - Instant Noodles
Highly Commended: Amelie Elias - What a View
Commended: Thehashi Upsara Gunawardene - Between Two Skies
11-12 years
Winner: Angus Koch - Dewdrops
Highly Commended: Chloe Lu - Beyond the Looking Glass
Commended: Elaine Chen - The Cup of Tea