Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Writing

The Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Writing (NPCW) is a biennial writing award.

It is a counterpart to the Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art (NPCA), which is also a biennial prize. The writing prize and the art prize are held on alternate years.

The 2026 Prize builds on the Shire's strong tradition of supporting contemporary Australian writing. It is offered in partnership with Writers Victoria and Yarra Plenty Regional Library.

Shortlisted entries

Short Story

Up to 2,500 words

Theme: Echoes

Poetry

Any form, up to 60 lines

Theme: Echoes

Prizes and awards

The prize awards the best work in each genre under each category. The prizes are monetary plus publication in the NPCW anthology which is launched at the public awards announcement held in May 2026. The prizes amounts are the same for both genres.

The Alan Marshall Short Story Award is awarded to the best short story in the Short Story Open category.

A Mayor's Award ($500) is also awarded from shortlisted entries in the Short Story Local category.

All entries in the Local category are automatically entered into the Open category.

Eligibility

• Open category is open to all Australian residents.
• Local category is open to Australian residents who live, work or study in Nillumbik.
• Youth category is open to Australian residents aged 11 to 21.

Judges

Poetry

Bebe Oliver

Bebe Oliver is a Bardi Jawi award-winning author, poet and illustrator.

From his early days as a classical pianist and composer, Bebe swiftly rose to prominence as a West Australian Young Person of the Year, before producing and directing theatre, dance, public art and festivals across Australia, Aotearoa and Europe.

As a leading advocate for Aboriginal advancement and self-determination, Bebe has collaborated with international entities including Aesop, Global Citizen, and World Pride to champion Blak stories and communities.

His debut poetry collection, more than these bones (Magabala Books, 2023) has been celebrated for its raw, unflinching exploration of mental health and the human condition.

A writer, facilitator and speaker living on the unceded land of the Kulin peoples, Bebe is deeply committed to the empowerment and visibility of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators.

He is the Artistic Director and CEO of Blak & Bright, and the Deputy Chair of Magabala Books, demonstrating his drive for literary excellence and cultural representation.

Bebe’s highly celebrated and widely published work explores love, loss, identity, the intersection of Aboriginal and gay existence, and the rich tapestry of place and Country, making him a compelling and transformative voice in contemporary literature.

Bebe’s newest book, if this is the end (Magabala Books, 2024) is regarded as a fearless and honest exploration of identity, and “a queer Blak classic”.

Jen Webb

Jen Webb is Distinguished Professor of Creative Practice at the University of Canberra, and Dean, Graduate Research Office.

Jen's works include lyric and prose poetry, short fiction and artist books. She is the holder of the inaugural ACT Poet of the Year Award, as well as many other literary awards. She is also the ACT editor for the Australian Book Review's States of Poetry mini-anthologies (2015–2017), chair of the NSW Premier's Literary Award (Kenneth Slessor Award for Poetry), and co-editor for the Australasian Association of Writing Program's literary journal, Meniscus.

Her recent volumes of poetry include Stolen Stories, Borrowed Lines (Mark Time Press, 2015), Sentences from the Archive (Recent Work Press, 2016), and Moving Targets (RWP 2018), and Watching the World (a collaborative poetry/photography volume) (Blemish Books, 2015). Her latest collection, The Daily News (RWP 2024), is shortlisted for the 2025 ACT Literary Awards.

Jen is the co-editor of the bilingual (Chinese/Australian) anthology of poetry, Open Windows: Contemporary Australian Poetry (Shanghai: Shanghai Joint Publishing Company, 2016); and co-editor of the academic journal Axon: Creative Explorations. With Monica Carroll, Jen also published a collection of interviews Everyday Words & Creative Practice: Ten Australian Poets in Conversation. 

Short Story

Julia Prendergast

Julia Prendergast lives in Melbourne on unceded Wurundjeri land. She is Associate Professor and Discipline Leader (Creative Writing, Literature, and Publishing) at Swinburne University. 

Julia is a fiction writer, essayist, and prose poet, with a particular interest in realist forms of writing, as well as fractured and experimental narrative forms. Her novel, The Earth Does Not Get Fat (2018) was longlisted for the Indie Book Awards (debut fiction). Bloodrust and Other Stories was published in 2022 (fiction of the week: SMH and The Age newspapers). Blent will be published in 2025. Julia’s stories and prose poems have been recognised and published: Lightship Anthology (UK), Glimmer Train (US), Séan Ó Faoláin Competition (IE), New Writing (UK), TEXT (AU). Her narrative-driven essays are published in New Writing, and elsewhere.

Julia is a practice-led researcher with a particular interest in neuro|psychoanalytic approaches to creative writing. She is President/Chair of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP), the peak academic body representing the discipline of Creative Writing (Australasia). She is an experienced workshop facilitator, having led workshops locally and internationally, at festivals and in partnership with industry.

Raeden Richardson

Raeden Richardson is the author of the debut novel, The Degenerates (Text Publishing, AU/UK), which was long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award.

His writing has been supported by Creative Australia, the American Australian Association Arts Fund, and the Ian Potter Cultural Trust. 

His work has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, Kill Your Darlings, The Age, Meanjin, Griffith Review and New Australian Fiction.

Anthologies

Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Writing Anthology 2024(PDF, 468KB)

Nillumbik Prize Contemporary Writing Anthology 2022(PDF, 616KB)

Nillumbik Prize Contemporary Writing Anthology 2020(PDF, 1MB)

Literary Nillumbik Anthology of Writing 2018(PDF, 1MB)

Literary Nillumbik Anthology of Writing 2017(PDF, 12MB)

Literary Nillumbik Anthology of Writing 2016(PDF, 2MB)