FLASH FICTION

1st place: ‘Heading Off’ David Brelsford
2nd place: ‘Walking to the Strand’ Thom. James
Highly Commended: ‘The Whisper of Trees’ Dianne Morton
Highly Commended: ‘An Ordinary Day’ Karen Payne
Commended: ‘Voices’ Christabel Strehle
Commended: ‘Farewell Francesca’ Robyn Knibb

PHILIPPA HOLLAND AWARD FOR POETRY

1st Place: ‘Two Canticles’ Colleen Keating
2nd Place: ‘Breathe…’ David Campbell
Highly Commended: ‘ungraspable’ Colleen Keating
Highly Commended: ‘Languid Ribbons’ David Terelinck
Highly Commended: ‘Embarking on a Poet’s Lighthouse Residency’ Ronald Atilano
Highly Commended: ‘Cloud Reading’ Richenda Rudman
Commended: ‘The Human Heart is 73% Water’ David Terelinck
Commended: ‘No Drone’ Ronald Atilano

ALAN RUSSELL AWARD FOR MEMOIR

1st place: ‘Peril Beyond the Moment’ Karen Payne
2nd place: ‘Tough’ Cheryl Lockwood

SHORT STORY

First Place: ‘The Seat at Table Rock’ David Campbell
Second Place: ‘The Gift’ Mike Woodhouse
Highly Commended: ‘Blind Faith’ Gayle Neighbour
Highly Commended: ‘The Driving Lesson’ Ivy Jacqueline Higgs
|Highly Commended: ‘Lunch Meeting’ Tania Park
Commended: ‘The Aroma of Coffee’ David Brelsford
Commended: ‘Children Know Best’ Tania Park
Commended: ‘On Second Thoughts’ Robyn Knibb.

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The Inaugural 2023 Ernestine Hill Memorial Short Story Competition:

Winner: Rachel Flynn, Fitzroy North, Victoria
Story Title: ‘Griffith’

The 2023 Rae Alison Cerhan Australiana Ballad:

Winner: Nola Vickery
Poem Title: ‘Under Opal Skies’.

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SECTION 1: SENIOR SECONDARY

Winner: 
Sienna Graziani, ‘The Mortician’s Lament’, Central Coast Adventist College NSW

Highly Commended: 
Adrian Zeckendorf, ‘Consumption’, St Michaels Collegiate TAS. 

Commended: 
Lily Ward,

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SECTION 1: Senior Secondary

General comments 
Whilst plot lines were often imaginative and the themes had a moral twist, too many stories appeared to be first drafts with no revision.
Often there was an excessive use of adjectives and similes that seemed cliched or forced.

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WINNER: 

Roger Vickery, Freshwater NSW, for ‘SPURS’.

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National Cherry Festival Writing Competition 2022

Celebrating 40 years at Young 1982–1922

Categories were: 

• Short Story Adult Section
• Poetry Adult Section
• Short Story School Students Section Yrs 7-8-9
• Short Story School Students Section Yrs 10-11-12
• Poetry School Students Section Yrs 7-8-9
• Poetry School Students Section Yrs 10-11-12
• Short Story Junior Primary Section Yrs 1-2-3
• Short Story Junior Primary Section Yrs 4-5-6
• Poetry Junior Primary Section Yrs 1-2-3
• Poetry Junior Primary Section Yrs 4-5-6

The full 

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2022 FAW Jean Stone Poetry Award 

Winner: 
‘From Impermanence’, David Atkinson, Beecroft NSW. 

Short listed: 

‘Under Opal Skies‘, Nola Vickery, Frenchs Forest NSW 
‘Beauty in the Breeze‘, Rod Fransisco, Ooralea, QLD
‘Lewis (1934 – )‘, Allan Lake, Elwood VIC
‘The Writing on the Sea’,

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There were 125 entries in this year’s Marjorie Barnard Award and I enjoyed reading them all. I expected many would have the pandemic either as the focus of the story or at least in the background, but there were only three, and only one in which COVID 19 was central to the action of the story. 

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The quality of the entries was very good. The winner and the commended stories were of a very high standard. I found difficulty in choosing a commended story. Those whose stories are shortlisted have high potential as creative writers.

Many writers had an imaginative story line and fell down when they didn’t deliver with tight writing.

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Good People

by Jodie Kewley, Red Hill South, Victoria

His mother hardly spoke on the long drive home, which suited him. She asked if he wanted the radio on and he said no. She asked if he wanted to stop at Maccas and he said no.

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The Voice of Nothing 

by Nathan Mackrill, Year 11, Barker College

Is it the sea you hear in me?
Its dissatisfactions?
Or the voice of nothing, that was your madness?
~ ‘Elm’, by Sylvia Plath

The only word I could find to describe the silence between us was ‘crushing’.

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Decomposition

by Amelie Jenkins, Year 8, St. Scholastica’s College

My heart has begun to blister, it too giving in to death. Would it be selfish that a small part of me wishes it had fought harder?

To know that you weren’t enough,

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To a Better Future 

by Rachel Theresia, Year 5, Abbotsleigh Junior School 

There I was, as a wax statue. I was in the History of Famous Inventors Museum which was built in 2040, staring at my sculpture while children in their school uniforms tried to take photos of themselves with it.

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When He Was Here 

by Astrid Esslinger, Year 4, Austinmer Public School.

When he was here it was brilliant, magical in fact. But when he was called to go to war, sadness drowned me. He marched boldly to fight for his country.

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RESULTS SHEET (3-page PDF 164K)

From the Competition Co-ordinator…

Thank you to the teachers and parents who encouraged the students to enter. They came from distant parts and all states and territories of Australia, as did local schools who supported our competition. All told, we had 225 entries in the school section and in the adult sections,

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By Cate Plink, Competition Convenor

Well, what a year we’ve had with our competitions this year.

There were 125 entries in the Marjorie Barnard competition, far more than in recent years. The standard of the entries was also high as well.

Hilarie Lindsay competition drew 215 entries.

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