Express Media is excited to announce the shortlist for The 2015 John Marsden & Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers.

The award is judged by John Marsden himself, and Hachette Australia, and recognises excellence across two categories, fiction and poetry, by writers in two age ranges. We would like to thank all of the young writers from across Australia who submitted their work for consideration. The standard of submissions was very high, so as always, the process of selecting the shortlist wasn’t easy.

The 2015 John Marsden/Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers shortlist is:

 

Short Fiction

Under 18

• Zhi Wei Wang, What Happens to a Family
• Shevaun Rutherford, They Without Humanity
• Vivien Huang, Do You Remember?
• Daniela Koulikov, Happy Birthday

 

18-24 years old

• Madeleine Streater, The Be All and End All
• Rob Johnson, Imagine the Horses
• Emily Paull, Miss Lovegrove
• Chloe Reeson, The Neighbourhood Dogs
• Kate Dunphy, Things Without Colour

 

Poetry

Under 18

• Pirrie Weeks, Jenga
• Zoe McDonald, Dead Birds and Egg-Yolk-Ambitions
• Paige Spence, Only Child

 

18-24 years old

• Michael Hutch, Watsons Bay
• Emily O’Grady, Caudal Autonomy
• Phoebe Chen, The Motions
• Saba Vayani-Lai, A Conversation with my Mother
• Jocelyn Deane, Apples

 

Winners will be announced by John Marsden and representatives from Hachette Australia as part of the 2015 Express Media Awards on Thursday 3 December, 6pm, at The Wheeler Centre.

 

Prizes

• The first place winner of the Short Story prize (18 – 24) wins $3,000 and a manuscript assessment or mentoring session with staff from Hachette Australia.
• The first place winner of the Poetry Prize (18 – 24) wins $1500.
• The first place winners of both the Poetry and the Short Story Prize (under 18) receive $500 each.
• First place winners are also published in the December issue of Voiceworks #102 while second and third place winners, as well as those with honourable mentions, are published on the Express Media website.

 

Congratulations to all shorlisted writers!