Laura Literary Awards
The Laura Literary Awards are co-ordinated by Rocky River ‘Riters.
Entries close for the Laura Literary Awards 2025 on Friday 8 May 2026. Please post your entries well before closing date.
Winners will be announced on 25 July 2026
Congratulations and Thanks to all Entrants of the Laura Literary Awards 2026.
Poetry and Prose sections Competition for 2026 now finalised, see Winners List below
List of winners 2026
Section 1 Open Prose
Winner: One-way ticket to Palookaville by Alan Hewett (Wodonga, Vic).
Commended: Waiting for release by Vickie Walker (Orange, NSW)
Section 2 Young Adult Prose
Winner: Invisible glass cups by Goshen Wu (St Pauls AGS Traralgon, Vic) 13y.o.
Highly Commended: My strange adoption by Quinn Barrett (Miss B’s student services, Tas) 13y.o.
Commended: A glitch of a witch by Emily Philips (Miss B’s student services, Tas) 14y.o.
Section 3A Primary Prose (11-12 y.o.)
Winner: Netball matters to me by Ava Goddard (Risdon Park Primary, Port Pirie) 11y.o.
Highly Commended: The magic cloak by Estelle Ford (Miss B’s student services, Tas), 11y.o.
Highly Commended: Backyard antics by Danielle Hwang (Northside Christian College, Qld), 11y.o.
Commended: The yellow sign by Samantha Oosthuizen (Northside Christian College, Qld),11y.o.
Commended: One shot byJane Wetherston (Northside Christian College, Qld), 11y.o.
Section 3B Primary Prose (9-10 y.o.)
Winner: Behind the dusty book by Charlton Hislop (Northside Christian College, Qld) 10y.o.
Highly Commended: A glorious shaft of light by Radha Kathir (Ascham school, NSW), 10y.o.
Highly Commended: Bushfire by Michaela Nguyen (Santa Sabina College Strathfield, NSW) 10y.o.
Commended: Intruder by Amelia Spranklin (Northside Christian College, Qld), 10y.o.
Commended: Visel by Ezra Wheeler (Northside Christian College, Qld), 10y.o.
Section 4 Junior Primary Prose
Winner: Not alone anymore by Olivia Yang (Citipointe Christian College, Qld), 8y.o.
Highly commended: The adventure of the magnifying glass by Shieri Holmes, (Wynn Vale, SA), 8y.o.
Commended: Lucy and her panda by Caitlyn Siew (Citipointe Christian College, Qld), 8y.o.
Section 5 Open Poetry
Winner: Rodeo hero by Brenda Joy Pritchard, (Charters Towers, Qld)
Highly commended: Big pool by Xander Orano, (Peterborough, SA)
Commended: Poopsie by David Henderson (Caltowie, SA)
Section 6 Bush Poetry
Winner: Calling time by Terry Pigott. (Lynwood WA)
Highly commended: Karinji wild by Brenda Joy Pritchard, (Charters Towers, Qld)
Commended: Its only ’bout a mile by Neil Mumford, (Port Pirie, SA).
Section 7 Young Adult Poetry
Winner: Survivor of No by Nanma Maria Jinish (Peterborough High School, Peterborough, SA), 17y.o.
Highly commended: Broken chains by Nanma Maria Jinish (Peterborough High School, Peterborough, SA), 17y.o.
Commended: The boy in the forest by Jeni Nadarajah (Glen Waverley Secondary College, Glen Waverley, Vic), 14y.o.
Section 8 Primary Poetry
Winner: You can take a horse to water by Scarlett Harris-Newsom (Miss B’s student services, Tas), 10y.o.
Highly commended: Black by Emmalyn Huang (Mont Albert Primary School), 11y.o.
Highly commended: Our creations by Lyla Bullock (Scotch College, Adelaide), 10y.o.
Commended: The bush walk by Reneisha Patidar (St Michaels Grammer, St Kilda), 10y.o.
Commended: Grateful by Lyla Bullock (Scotch College, Adelaide), 10y.o.
Section 9 Junior Primary Poetry
Winner: Bush Turkey by Joshua Tan (Citipointe Christian College, Qld), 7y.o.
Highly commended: The Performer by Reina Jorkowski (Miss B’s student services, Tas), 6y.o.
Commended: In the above world by Alyssa Tyas (Lavington Public School, Lavington, NSW) 8y.0.
Congratulations to all those whose work has been recognised by the 2026 Laura Literary Award judges. Rocky River ‘Riters thank all entrants for taking the time to participate in our competition and wish you well with your future writing.
A booklet containing the published manuscripts of winning entrants can be purchased at a cost of $15 (which includes postage) by contacting rockyriverriters@hotmail.com .
Rocky River 'Riters 