Young Tasmanian Writers' Prize 2025
The Young Tasmanian Writers’ Prize is a short fiction competition open to Tasmanians enrolled in Years 7-12 at schools that are current members of TATE and home-schooled students.
Sponsored by Forty South Publishing, with the generous support of the Tasmanian Association for the Teaching of English (TATE), with prizes donated by City of Hobart, Jane Franklin Hall, and Fullers Bookshop.
Supported by the Hobart City of Literature.
Prizes: Winner of each section receives The Lord Mayor's Prize ($300 Senior, $200 Junior); Two runners up of each section receive a $30 Fullers Bookshop gift voucher; The Jane Franklin Hall Prose Award (Senior Section $200, Junior Section $100).
Winning stories will be posted online in the Young Tasmania section of fortysouth.com.au. All finalists' stories will be published in Up and Coming 2025, a paperback anthology co-sponsored by Forty South Publishing and TATE.
Winners' schools each receive a one-year subscription to Forty South Tasmania print magazine.
YOUNG TASMANIAN WRITERS’ PRIZE 2025 -- WINNERS
JUNIOR SECTION (Judge, Blake Nuto)
General Comments: Thank you for sharing these delightful works with me. What a joy it is to read and encourage such promising young writers. Each piece shows courage, imagination, and a willingness to experiment with words in ways that truly impressed me.
Winner
Zoey Tenaglia, Calvin Christian School - Sunny side up
Judge's Comments: Gently jostled into the mind of a philosophical and poetic egg, I was at once surprised and transported. Delicately balancing humour and heart, this cracking short story did exactly what you hope a short story will do.
Runners-up
Izzy B-Bell, Home Education - This Town is Everything
Judge's Comments: With pace, style, and heat, this piece served up something daring.
Molly Fleming, Taroona High School - Nameless
Judge's Comments: With the wisdom of the immortals, this story felt like it was written years beyond the classroom walls. A triumph of world-building in two pages.
Highly Commended
Ayla Ogden, Marist Regional College - Alone
Millicent Somann-Crawford, Fahan School - Our Country Castle
Judge's Comments: Both of these works stood out for their willingness to dig deep and claw at the truth. They reflect the bravery of young writers unafraid to search for honesty and meaning.
Jane College Prose Award Junior Winner (Judge, Nick Brodie)
Molly Fleming, Taroona High School - Nameless
Judge's Comments: A creative exploration of the art of creation and the desire for connection and belonging, this is a story whose characters take us on a journey of discovery.
SENIOR SECTION (Judge, Lyndon Riggall)
Winner
Billie Lowenstein, Elizabeth College -- All That Glitters
Judge's Comments: There is something perfectly tender about this narrative. Lu is so simply and beautifully described that you can’t help but feel completely entranced by his experiences; it's proof that the short story can be just as impacting as any much longer work.
Runners-Up
Hal Cormack, St Mary’s College -- Little Ollie’s Bedtime
Judge's Comments: This is a story that carefully examines the very act of writing stories, relishing in lyrical language as it does so. It’s a delight to read, with some lovely twists and turns, and its use of expression makes it a true standout.
Michael Rayner, Calvin Christian School -- Have You Met the Tates?
Judge's Comments: This narrative slides seamlessly from genre to genre, and just when you think you have a handle on it, it surprises the reader again. It's dark, twisted and fascinating—I loved it.
Highly Commended
Henry Fraser, Mackillop Catholic College -- The Mild Adventures of a Passive Aggressive Lightbulb
Judge's Comments: This was so much fun to read, and a wonderful example of how a creative challenge can create really memorable fiction. You’ll never look at a lightbulb the same way again.
Georgina Ward, St Michael’s Collegiate -- In Vodka, Veritas
Judge's Comments: This is a really entrancing series of vignettes about travel. It is so very skillful that such a short narrative can create a vivid and rich picture of a culture and the moments that define being a stranger in a strange land. It's a very engaging piece of writing.
Jane College Prose Award Senior Winner (Judge, Nick Brodie)
Hal Cormack, St Mary’s College -- Little Ollie’s Bedtime
Judge's Comments: A richly textured narrative arc, which twists and turns gently to a satisfying conclusion, this work stands out for its depth of character and sense of immediacy. Journeying to bed, Ollie shows us something unexpected.
JUDGES
Senior Section: Lyndon Riggall
Lyndon Riggall is a writer and teacher from Launceston. He is the author of the picture books Becoming Ellie, illustrated by Graeme Whittle, and Tamar the Thief, illustrated by Grace Roberts. Alongside Georgie Todman, he is also co-president of the Tamar Valley Writers Festival. He can be found at http://www.lyndonriggall.com or on social media @lyndonriggall.
Junior Section: Blake Nuto
Blake Nuto is an internationally published author living in lutruwita (Tasmania). He is the author of ‘Child of Galaxies’ (2020), ‘A Day That’s Ours’ (2022) and ‘When You’re A Boy’ (2023). His books have received numerous nominations including The Tasmanian Literary Awards, The Ezra Jack Keats Award, The Kate Greenaway Medal and was shortlisted in The Klaus Flugge Prize, CBCA and Queensland Literary Awards. His books have been translated in multiple languages. When he is not making picture books, he is often wandering in the bush or gardening. He is also an educator and winner of the Teacher Category for Poem Forest (2024).
The Jane Franklin Hall Prose Award (Senior and Junior Section): Nick Brodie
Dr Nick Brodie is the Dean of Academic Studies at Jane Franklin Hall, a residential college for university students in Hobart. Trained in history and archaeology, Nick has written numerous books and articles and regularly appears on radio and television.
Shortlist Selection: Rayne Allinson
Dr Rayne Allinson is Assistant Publisher at Forty South Publishing and Reading Group Coordinator at Fullers Bookshop.
