My Brother Jack Award 2021 winners

Congratulations to the following prize winners and commendations.

Open Short Story 

Judge: Angela Meyer

First Prize: The Edge of the World by Julie Michaelson
Second Prize: Paper Trail by Natalie Vella
Third Prize: The Return by Venetia Kefalianos
Highly Commended: Invisible? Never! by Magda de la Pesca
Highly Commended: Wheatbelt Blues by Douglas Wroe
Highly Commended: The Shape of a Wedding Dress by Peter Farrar

Download the Open Short Story — winning stories and Judge’s report

Senior Secondary Short Story 

Judge: Annette Trevitt

First Prize: Stitch by Ella Cairney
Highly Commended: Pop's Story by Megan Devereux

Download the Senior Secondary Short Story — winning stories and Judge’s report

Junior Secondary Short Story 

Judge: Annette Trevitt

First Prize: The Altar by Roshni Walia
Highly Commended: The Black Salty Hands by Julia White
Highly Commended: Forgotten by Amelie Sachinidis

Download the Junior Secondary Short Story — winning stories and Judge’s report

Primary School Short Story 

Judge: Eliza Henry-Jones

First Prize: Secret Defenders of the Universe vs Agent Soggy Bread by James Lipchin
Highly Commended: Athletics Day by Samuel Hicks
Highly Commended: Forever Hero by Annie Tao
Highly Commended: Doorway to Another Day by Henry Raju King

Download the Primary Short Story — winning stories and Judge’s report

Open Poetry 

Judge: Alicia Sometimes

First Prize: Gerhard Richter Works by Alexandra Phelan
Second Prize: The Geometry of Winter by Gab Doquile
Third Prize: Small Rider by Sharon Rockman
Highly commended: Dictionary of Beautiful Words by Gayelene Carbis
Highly Commended: Dialogue of Modernity by Sandra Lanteri

Download the Open Poetry — winning poems and Judge’s report

Senior Secondary Poetry 

Judge: Alicia Sometimes

First Prize: Eidolon by Selina Richter
Highly Commended: You Say I'm a Distraction by Sara Saffer
Highly Commended: For we are Africa by Gabriella Voges

Download the Senior Secondary Poetry — winning poems and Judge’s report

Junior Secondary Poetry 

Judge: Alicia Sometimes

First Prize: Longing by Kyley Chen
Highly Commended: Simply Sunday by Edie Halliday-Morris
Highly Commended: Giving a Hand by Linh Nguyen
Highly Commended: The Signs of a Lockdown by Alana Roberts

Download the Junior Secondary Poetry — winning poems and Judge’s report

Primary Poetry 

Judge: Ozlem Baro

First Prize: The Green Eyed Monster by Heidi Bhujoharry
Highly Commended: Raindrop by Ava van Oosten
Highly Commended: Summertime by Evie Ellett
Highly Commended: The Eagle by Hadassa Vogel

Download the Primary Poetry — winning poems and Judge’s report

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.

Annette Trevitt

Annette moved from Sydney to Melbourne to study animation and stayed. For 15 years, she taught fiction writing in professional writing and editing programmes, and has taught non-fiction, screenwriting and TV comedy. Her short stories have been broadcast on ABC radio and by the BBC and published in literary magazines and anthologies, including Best Australian Stories and in the Fish Anthology in Ireland. She teaches academic writing and communication skills to students entering higher education.

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. She is now a freelance editor and consultant, living in Elsternwick.

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.