2026 marks 36 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 short story not exceeding 750 words for their chance to win amazing prices, including $3,500 cash pool, an exclusive Publisher Experience with Penguin Random House Australia and personalised editorial feedback, and loot bags with vouchers, snacks and bookish prizes.
Submissions for the 2026 Young Writers' Award are open now.
Please take a look at the winners from this year's Young Writer's Award below.
Special thanks to our sponsors:
- Allen & Unwin
- Hachette Australia
- Penguin Random House
- Walker Books Australia
2025 winning entries
- 15-18 years
Winner: Mea Culpa by Ophelia Wong
Highly Commended: Cerulean Heart by Maria Smith
Commended: Catch a Tiger by Millie Frawley-Green
Merit: A Conversation with Yesterday by Jiayi Fang
Merit: Cages Aren't Meant to Last, Althea Ng
Merit: Patient 459 by Lielle Fane
Merit: Rhea (A Mother's Love) by Tinya Jiang
Merit: Sobriety Dèjà Vu by Emma King-Li
Merit: Sonder for Small Things by Amira Rahman
Merit: The Liberation of a Voice by Lil King
Merit: The Quiet Kind of Hurt by Jennie Bae
- 14 years
Winner: Gallipoli by April Rose
Highly Commended: Clair de Lune by Tiana Abustan
Commended: Once Upon a Time by Kelly Cheng
- 13 years
Winner: The Secret School of Dust and Dreams by Joey Fung
Highly Commended: The Last Catch by Jemima Ekas
Commended: The Silk Blade by Sophie Clement Skorbacki
Merit: 10:19 by Holly Westaway
Merit: After Four Breaths by Emily Lin
Merit: Anxiety in a Reflection by Lily Tynan
Merit: The Bane of The Gods by Sonya Johns
Merit: The Dreamers by Nina Holland
Merit: The Mountain of the Ages by Edison Heap
Merit: The Search by Samina Ahmed
- 12 years
Winner: Ink Bottle by Nell Porter
Highly Commended: The Memory Library by Rose Mingmei Kreuiter
Commended: The Last Scream by Mia Wang
Merit: 1 Down, 100 to Go by Zac Boyd
Merit: A Window Left Open by Lan Ninh
Merit: Ashes to Aroma by Khushi Choudhary
Merit: Boundless Beauty by Angus Lansdown
Merit: Hide and Seek by Naomi Truong
Merit: Imperfections by Yasna Narimani
Merit: Live in the Moment by Emma McRae
Merit: Orbital by Nathalie Endres
Merit: Ruby's Ring by Anna Walkinshaw
Merit: Untitled by Flynn Tan
- 11 years
Winner: The Fourth Leaf by Irene Lee
Highly Commended: Bruno by Theodore Dibbs
Commended: The Paintbrush by Tamara Wimalasiri
Merit: Artificial Intelligence by Emin Hafalir
Merit: Calling All Vikings by Dario Leotta
Merit: Find a Better Place, Butterfly by Cleopatra Lin
Merit: Hide and Seek by Arwen Jones
Merit: The Vietnam War: The Heart of Chaos by Bryan Binny
Merit: The Wonders of the Water by Isla Quinn
Merit: Untitled by Tina Wu
Meet the five judges
Erin Gough
Award-winning author of three books for young adults: ‘The Flywheel’, which won the Ampersand Prize, ‘Amelia Westlake’, winner of the Readings Young Adult Book Prize and the NSW Premier’s Ethel Turner Prize for Young Adult Fiction, and ‘Into the Mouth of the Wolf’, her most recently published work in May 2024.
Jaclyn Moriarty
International best-selling author of novels for children, young adults and adults, including the ‘Kingdoms and Empires’ series. Jaclyn’s books have won the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award, the Queensland Premier’s Award, the Aurealis Award and other prizes, and named as CBCA Honour Books and Boston Globe/Hornbook Honor books.
Jeremy Lachlan
Jeremy’s debut novel, ‘Jane Doe and the Cradle of All Worlds’, was the 2019 Australian Book Industry Award winner for Book of the Year for Older Children. Its second part, ‘Jane Doe and the Key of All Souls’, was shortlisted for the same award in 2021. He came up with the idea for the Jane Doe Chronicles while lost in the Cairo Museum.
Sue Whiting
Acclaimed children’s and young adult author, and editor with over twenty years experience. Sue is the author of the bestselling book ‘Missing’ and the award-winning ‘A Swim in the Sea’. ‘The Book of Chance’ was shortlisted for the 2021 CBCA Book of the Year Awards and Highly Commended in the 2021 Davitt Awards.
Will Kostakis
Will was just nineteen years old when his first novel was released and he’s been writing (and rewriting) ever since. His latest novel, ‘We Could Be Something’, won the 2024 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Young Adult Literature, was shortlisted for the Victorian and New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards and the Queensland Literary Award.
Thank you to our sponsors
