Calling all young writers! Would you like to –

Have your work published?
Win cash prizes?
Be mentored by an amazing writer?

This year Story Factory turns 10! To mark this occasion, we’re running a competition to find the best young writers in diverse communities across Australia. Entry is open to primary and high school students, and anyone who’s ever done a Story Factory workshop.

The top three entries in each category will be published in a special 10th anniversary anthology of the best writing from Story Factory programs over the last decade. Plus the winners in each category receive cash prizes and a chance to be mentored by one of Australia’s most exciting writers.

Entries open 1 April 2022 – Close 31 May 2022

The aim of the competition is to celebrate the voices of amazing young writers in diverse communities in Australia. If you feel you don’t often see yourself or your world reflected in books and the media, this competition is for you!

The theme is ‘voices in the wind.’ You can interpret this however you like. You might include a reference to voices that go unheard; or supernatural voices; or a little voice inside a character’s head. Maybe one of your characters overhears something in the playground. Maybe someone says something at the beach that is lost in the wind. It’s totally up to you. It can be a big part of your piece of writing, or just a brief mention.

You can also decide what you write: a story, poem, script or non-fiction piece. We’re looking for pieces that are original, engrossing and have something to say. Just make sure it’s all your own work.

Also note that the winning entries will be published in anthologies for primary and high school students, so should be appropriate for one or both groups.

The prize will be judged by an expert panel. Radhiah Chowdhury is an author, audio producer and editor living on unceded Bidjigal Land in Sydney’s south-west. She is one of the founders and moderators of the Australian First Nations and People of Colour in Publishing Network, and was the 2019-2020 Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellow. Eileen Chong is a poet who has been shortlisted for multiple awards, including the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, and twice for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Isaiah T Soares is a young writer from Western Sydney who published two novellas as part of Story Factory’s Year of the Novella program in 2020 and 2021.

Entry criteria and prizes

Primary school students

• Years 3-6
• The piece needs to be shorter than 1,000 words, or 40 lines for a poem. 
• Prize of $200

Junior high school students

• Years 7-10 
• The piece needs to be shorter than 2,000 words, or 40 lines for a poem. 
• Prize of $300

Senior high school students

• Years 11-12
• The piece needs to be shorter than 2,000 words, or 40 lines for a poem.
• Prize of $400

Alumni of Story Factory programs

• Anyone who previously participated in a Story Factory program but has now left school.
• The piece needs to be shorter than 2,000 words, or 40 lines for a poem.
• Prize of $500

The top three pieces in each category will be professionally published in Story Factory’s 10th Anniversary anthology.