South Perth Young Writers Award

The South Perth Young Writers Award encourages excellence in creative writing and is open to all students from Year one through to Year 12 who live in or attend school within the City of South Perth.

Each year the entries are judged by a panel of librarians, writers and children’s literature enthusiasts. Shortlisted entrants are invited to attend a writing workshop to develop their writing skills and to refine their submitted story which is then re-read before finalists are chosen.

Categories

There are five age categories for prose with the Christobel Mattingley Bronze Medallion awarded to the entry judged to be the most outstanding.

Entries will be judged in the following categories:

• Lower Primary Years 1-2
• Middle Primary Years 3-4
• Upper Primary Years 5-6
• Lower Secondary Years 7-9
• Upper Secondary Years 10-12

Why should you enter?

• Shortlisted entrants are invited to attend a one-on-one workshop with award-winning local author Shirley Marr, who will provide tailored feedback on their stories.
• All finalists are awarded prizes up to the value of $150.
• All finalist entries will be published in the 2024 SPYWA Anthology. A copy of the Anthology will be gifted to each finalist and to their school library, and another copy is held in the City of South Perth Libraries collection.
  

How to enter

The 2024 South Perth Young Writers Award is open from 5 February 2024.

To enter your story:

1. Check that it complies with the conditions of entry listed below.
2. Download and fill in the SPYWA entry form.
3. Send your story and your completed entry form to SPYWA@southperth.wa.gov.au by midnight on Sunday 2 June 2024. Shortlisted entrants will be contacted by 20 June 2024.
   

Conditions of entry

• Entrants must be of school age and live or go to school in the City of South Perth.
• Entries may be any length up to 1500 words.
• Entries must be prose (stories). Poetry will not be accepted.
• Entries must be accompanied by a completed entry form.
• Each entrant may submit only one entry.
• Entries cannot be co-authored. Each entry must have only one author.
• Entries should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents if possible. PDFs are also accepted.
• Please do NOT include the author’s name on the story itself.
  

For more information contact the South Perth Library on 9474 0800.

2023 Award Winners

The full list of 2023 award winners were announced on 14 September 2023.

View the  2023 SPYWA Anthology.

View a gallery of photographs from the Awards ceremony on flickr.