We are thrilled to announce the shortlisted writers for this year’s Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry categories!

Express Media has been proud to present this prize yet again in 2023, in partnership with Hachette Australia, to showcase excellence in creative writing amongst secondary school aged students around the country.

This unique developmental award will offer the shortlisted entrants an exclusive Q&A session with prize mentor and author Pip Harry, as well as a writing masterclass and book packs of YA titles courtesy of Hachette Australia. The winner of each category – to be announced on 1st Oct at the National Young Writers Festival (NYWF) – will receive a $500 cash prize, publication of their work on the Express Media website, and their names acknowledges in Voiceworks, Australia’s premier youth literary journal.

This year, the prize received 307 entries. The shortlisted winners are:

Fiction

‘Senseless’ by Iluka de Visser (QLD)
‘Wilting and Blooming’ by Grace Barnes (VIC)
‘Sierra’s First Flight’ by Naomi Walkom (WA)
‘Love with Nowhere to Go’ by Olive Baker (TAS)
‘Paper Plates’ by Grace Sweet (QLD)

Nonfiction

‘Aftermath of ‘Dear Mum and Dad’’ by Micah Santos (WA)
‘Relaxed is the New Uncomfortable’ by Varaidzo Marunda (TAS)
‘On Wednesdays, We Degrade Asian Women’ by Jennifer Lee (NSW)
‘Fragmented Reflections: South Asian–Australian Identity’ by Abhinav Ravi (NSW)
‘Pocketbook’ by Asher Miller (NSW)

Poetry

‘Girlfish’ by Fig Russon–Jorgensen (VIC)
‘Two Hours, 36 Minutes’ by Lotus Das–Hyland (VIC)
‘Haze’ by Layla Natsis (VIC)
‘The Prologue of My Childhood’ by Jasmine Cullen (WA)
‘i live on broken rock’ by Ryan Chen (NSW)

The calibre of submissions this year was extremely high, so we offer our congratulations to each shortlisted winner for their excellent writing skills.