My Brother Jack Awards

My Brother Jack Awards 2022 winners

Congratulations to the following prize winners.

Open Short Story Category (3,000 word limit)
Judge: Angela Meyer

First Prize: Joanne by James Hughes
Second Prize: The Shadows in your Face by Peter Farrar
Third Prize: Grace by Ellen Coates
Highly Commended: Walker Street by Lucy Cleeve
Highly Commended: Growing Pains by Alyce Adams

Open Short Story Judge's report - Angela Meyer

Senior Secondary Short Story Category (1,000 word limit)
Judge: Annette Trevitt

First Prize: My Brother Jack by Silene Lebeau
Highly Commended: The Macbeth Maiden by Claudia Hopkins

Senior Secondary Short Story Judge's report - Annette Trevitt

Junior Secondary Short Story Category (500 word limit)
Judge: Annette Trevitt

First Prize: The Kingdom of the Night by Milja Lin
Highly Commended: The Baggy Green in my Dreams by Asher New
Highly Commended: Words don't Hurt Wolf by Isabella Schneider

Junior Secondary Short Story Judge's Report - Annette Trevitt

Primary School Short Story Category (500 word limit)
Judge: Eliza Henry-Jones

First Prize: Colourful Day by Lindsay Ryan
Highly Commended: Darkseeker Level 1 by James Lipchin
Highly Commended: The Last Fight by Coles Rathgen
Highly Commended: Strange Town by Evelyn Zhou

Primary Short Story Judge's Report - Eliza Henry-Jones

Open Poetry Category (60 line limit)
Judge: Alicia Sometimes

First Prize: Outback Birth by Ralph Genende
Second Prize: Sub Way by Alexandra Phelan
Third Prize: every poem, an attempt by Phoebe Siobhan Thompson
Highly commended:  Trampoline by Sandra Lanteri
Highly Commended: Memo by James Hughes

Open Poetry Judge's Report - Alicia Sometimes

Senior Secondary Poetry Category (30 line limit)
Judge: Alicia Sometimes

First Prize: Snö by Selina Richter
Highly Commended: Can I Sleep in your Skin Tonight? by Liv Mutch

Senior Secondary Judge's Report - Alicia Sometimes

Junior Secondary Poetry Category (10 line limit)
Judge: Alicia Sometimes

First Prize: Resist by Lucy Wiesner
Highly Commended: My Friend... by Jolene Zheng
Highly Commended: Motorcycling in Hanoi by Linh Nguyen

Junior Secondary Judge's Report - Alicia Sometimes

Primary Poetry Category (10 line limit)
Judge: Ozlem Baro

First Prize: Monster under my Bed by Josh Ooi
Highly Commended: Depression by Jasper Grimwade
Highly Commended: Head in the Clouds by Kian Ptok
Highly Commended: Basketball  by Hunter Nelson

Primary Poetry Judge's Report - Ozlem Baro

Judges’ Biographies

Eliza Henry Jones
Eliza grew up in Glen Eira and is the author of the adult novels Ache and In the Quiet and the YA novels P is for Pearl and How to Grow a Family Tree. Her novels have been listed for the QLD Literary Awards, NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction, ABIA, Indie and CBCA Awards. Her work has appeared in places such as The Big Issue, The Guardian, The Age and Country Style. She is currently working towards a PhD in creative writing. In 2022, Eliza released her novel, Salt and Skin – an evocative tale set in the haunted landscape of the islands off the Scottish coast.

Paul Dalgarno
Paul is an author and journalist. He was deputy editor of The Conversation (Australia) and a senior writer and features editor at The Herald newspaper group (UK). He has written for The Guardian, Big Issue Scotland, and Australian Book Review. He is the author of And You May Find Yourself and Poly. His latest novel, A Country of Eternal Light was recently shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year. Born and raised in Scotland, Paul has lived in Australia since 2010. 

Angela Meyer
Angela Meyer’s debut novel, A Superior Spectre, was shortlisted for an Aurealis Award, the MUD Literary Prize, an ABIA, the Readings Prize for New Australian Writing and a Saltire Award (Scotland). Her novella, Joan Smokes, won the inaugural Mslexia Novella Award (UK). Her work has been widely published in magazines, journals and newspapers, and she has worked as a bookseller, book reviewer, commissioning editor and publisher. Her latest novel, Moon Sugar, has just been released – a life-affirming magical novel that sees two people travel to Berlin together to piece together the final days of a mysteriously missing friend.

Alicia Sometimes
Alicia is a poet, writer and broadcaster. She has performed her spoken word and poetry at many venues, festivals and events around the world. Her poems have been in Best Australian Science Writing, Best Australian Poems, Overland, Southerly, Meanjin, ABC TV's Sunday Arts and more. She is a member of the ABC’s Outer Sanctum podcast and is often reviewing books on ABC Melbourne. She is director and co-writer of the science-poetry planetarium shows, Elemental and Particle/Wave. Her TedxUQ talk in 2019 was about the passion of combining art with science.

Ozlem Baro
Ozlem Baro is a poet and photographer. She has performed poetry in Australia, Turkey, Guatemala and Cyprus. Her photos can be found on Instagram and are mostly of her visits to curious places. Ozlem enjoys travelling and recently spent an entire year having adventures in different countries.

Background to My Brother Jack

My Brother Jack is a novel written by George Johnston, published in 1964. Johnston grew up in Elsternwick, and his mother Minnie was a Voluntary Aid Detachment member during the war.

My Brother Jack is a semi-autobiographical novel that follows the character of David Meredith through his youth in inter-war Melbourne. David’s mother is a VAD at Caulfield Repatriation Hospital on Kooyong Road, and she often brings wounded soldiers into their house. His childhood is filled with injured and traumatised men, and his memories of the hospital are a powerful view of war’s impact through a child’s eyes.

An Australian classic, the novel brought Glen Eira’s post-war experience into the national consciousness. Johnston’s book won the Miles Franklin Award in 1964.

The My Brother Jack Awards, Glen Eira City Council’s annual literary competition, acknowledge the lasting impact of Johnston’s work.

_{Sources:
G Johnston, My Brother Jack, William Collins, Sons, 1964
VAD Register, Red Cross Australia (Victoria)}