Everyone can write at least one good story. That was the belief of J. F. Archibald, the editor and founder of the famous nineteenth-century weekly, The Bulletin, who invited his readers to become contributors. It was this encouragement that led Joseph Furphy, working in his brother’s foundry at Shepparton, to write his ‘offensively Australian’ novel, Such is Life, using the pseudonym of ‘Tom Collins’. The book, full of stories derived from Joseph’s experience in the Riverina and told in a voice uniquely his own, is now acknowledged to be a classic of Australian literature.
In the spirit of Archibald and honouring the author of Such is Life, the Furphy Literary Award has been established to promote and extend the tradition of story telling, both factual and fictional, that is so much part of Australian life.
From 2020 the Furphy Literary Award will invite entries of short stories of 5000 words for a first prize of $15,000 in the open category (2nd prize - $ 3,000, 3rd prize - $2,000. A junior & youth category with a prize pool of $1800 will seek entries for short stories and poetry. In addition to the monetary prizes it is intended that selected works will be included in a collection to be published annually and that the winner of the open category will also be invited to participate in a residency program in Shepparton.
The Furphy Literary Award includes award winning judges, generous prizes and most importantly the platform and opportunity for all writers to use their talents to compete at the highest standard.
The Furphy Literary Award, both national & regional is made possible from the generous support and contribution provided by the sponsors and to the many people that have contributed to the Joseph Furphy Literary Awards since 1992.
Junior / Youth Category General Conditions of Entry
1. Entrants must meet the age requirement at the time of competition close.
2. Junior & Youth entrants must be current Australian residents and live or attend a school within the Goulburn Valley - specifically within Greater Shepparton City Council, Moira, Strathbogie, Mitchell, Murrindindi, Benalla or Campaspe Shires.
3. Writing may be works of fiction or narrative non-fiction.
4. All submissions must be written in English and must be the original work of the entrant.
5. Junior entries open Friday, March 1, 2024, and must be typed or handwritten (and scanned) and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by 11:59 pm Friday, May 31, 2024, via the following link – www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au
6. Youth entries open Friday, March 1, 2024 and must be typed and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by 11:59 pm Friday, May 31, 2024 via the following link –
7. More than one entry may be submitted by each entrant.
8. All entries must follow the online registration and submission process.
9. To preserve anonymity and the 'blind' judging process, uploaded manuscripts must only contain the text and title of the entry/poem/story - any other personal identification (e.g. the author's name) relating to the entrant must not appear on the manuscript including the header or footer. The author's name must not appear on the digital file. The filename of the entry being uploaded to Submittable must be the name/title of the entry/story.
10. The Furphy Literary Award reserves the right to retain all entries, publish winning entries in newspapers and reproduce winning and shortlisted entries for loan. Copyright remains with the writer.
11. In all matters relating to conditions of entry, the decisions of the Furphy Literary Award organisers are final. In all matters relating to judging of the Furphy Literary Award the decisions of the judges are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
12. Short-listed writers only will be notified.
13. The winners and place getters of the 2024 Furphy Literary Award Junior & Youth categories will be announced in July 2024 and published on www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au
Youth Short Story
Age 13 – 17 years old
Word limit 2000 words
Production Typed
Subject / Theme Any Subject
1st Prize $300
2nd Prize $100
3rd Prize $50
Junior / Youth Category General Conditions of Entry
1. Entrants must meet the age requirement at the time of competition close.
2. Junior & Youth entrants must be current Australian residents and live or attend a school within the Goulburn Valley - specifically within Greater Shepparton City Council, Moira, Strathbogie, Mitchell, Murrindindi, Benalla or Campaspe Shires.
3. Writing may be works of fiction or narrative non-fiction.
4. All submissions must be written in English and must be the original work of the entrant.
5. Junior entries open Friday March 1, 2024, and must be typed or handwritten (and scanned) and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by 11:59 pm Friday May 31, 2024, via the following link – www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au
6.Youth entries open Friday March 1, 2024 and must be typed and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by 11:59 pm Friday 31, 2024 via the following link –
7. More than one entry may be submitted by each entrant.
8. All entries must follow the online registration and submission process.
9. To preserve anonymity and the 'blind' judging process, uploaded manuscripts must only contain the text and title of the entry/poem/story - any other personal identification (e.g. the author's name) relating to the entrant must not appear on the manuscript including the header or footer. The author's name must not appear on the digital file. The filename of the entry being uploaded to Submittable must be the name/title of the entry/story.
10. The Furphy Literary Award reserves the right to retain all entries, publish winning entries in newspapers and reproduce winning and shortlisted entries for loan. Copyright remains with the writer.
11. In all matters relating to conditions of entry, the decisions of the Furphy Literary Award organisers are final. In all matters relating to judging of the Furphy Literary Award the decisions of the judges are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
12. Short-listed writers only will be notified.
13. The winners and place getters of the 2024 Furphy Literary Award Junior & Youth categories will be announced in July 2024 and published on www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au
Youth Poetry
Age 13 – 17 years old
Word limit 30 Lines
Production Typed
Subject / Theme Any Subject
1st Prize $300
2nd Prize $100
3rd Prize $50
Junior/Youth Category General Conditions of Entry
1. Entrants must meet the age requirement at the time of competition close.
2. Junior & Youth entrants must be current Australian residents and live or attend a school within the Goulburn Valley - specifically within Greater Shepparton City Council, Moira, Strathbogie, Mitchell, Murrindindi, Benalla or Campaspe Shires.
3. Writing may be works of fiction or narrative non-fiction.
4. All submissions must be written in English and must be the original work of the entrant.
5. Junior entries open Friday, March 1, 2024, and must be typed or handwritten (and scanned) and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by 11:59 pm Friday, May 31, 2024, via the following link – www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au
6.Youth entries open Friday, March 1, 2024 and must be typed and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by 11:59 pm Friday, May 31, 2024 via the following link –
7. More than one entry may be submitted by each entrant.
8. All entries must follow the online registration and submission process.
9. To preserve anonymity and the 'blind' judging process, uploaded manuscripts must only contain the text and title of the entry/poem/story - any other personal identification (e.g. the author's name) relating to the entrant must not appear on the manuscript including the header or footer. The author's name must not appear on the digital file. The filename of the entry being uploaded to Submittable must be the name/title of the entry/story.
10. The Furphy Literary Award reserves the right to retain all entries, publish winning entries in newspapers and reproduce winning and shortlisted entries for loan. Copyright remains with the writer.
11. In all matters relating to conditions of entry, the decisions of the Furphy Literary Award organisers are final. In all matters relating to judging of the Furphy Literary Award the decisions of the judges are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
12. Short-listed writers only will be notified.
13. The winners and place getters of the 2024 Furphy Literary Award Junior & Youth categories will be announced in July 2024 and published on www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au
Junior Short Story
Age up to 12 years old
Word limit 2000 words
Production Typed or hand-written
Subject / Theme Any Subject
1st Prize $300
2nd Prize $100
3rd Prize $50
Junior / Youth Category General Conditions of Entry
1. Entrants must meet the age requirement at the time of competition close.
2. Junior & Youth entrants must be current Australian residents and live or attend a school within the Goulburn Valley - specifically within Greater Shepparton City Council, Moira, Strathbogie, Mitchell, Murrindindi, Benalla or Campaspe Shires.
3. Writing may be works of fiction or narrative non-fiction.
4. All submissions must be written in English and must be the original work of the entrant.
5. Junior entries open Friday March 1, 2024, and must be typed or handwritten (and scanned) and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by 11:59 pm Friday, May 31, 2024, via the following link – www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au
6. Youth entries open Friday March 1, 2024 and must be typed and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by 11:59 pm Friday, May 31, 2024 via the following link –
7. More than one entry may be submitted by each entrant.
8. All entries must follow the online registration and submission process.
9. To preserve anonymity and the 'blind' judging process, uploaded manuscripts must only contain the text and title of the entry/poem/story - any other personal identification (e.g. the author's name) relating to the entrant must not appear on the manuscript including the header or footer. The author's name must not appear on the digital file. The filename of the entry being uploaded to Submittable must be the name/title of the entry/story.
10. The Furphy Literary Award reserves the right to retain all entries, publish winning entries in newspapers and reproduce winning and shortlisted entries for loan. Copyright remains with the writer.
11. In all matters relating to conditions of entry, the decisions of the Furphy Literary Award organisers are final. In all matters relating to judging of the Furphy Literary Award the decisions of the judges are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
12. Short-listed writers only will be notified.
13. The winners and place getters of the 2024 Furphy Literary Award Junior & Youth categories will be announced in July 2024 and published on www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au
Junior Poetry
Age Up to 12 years old
Word limit 20 Lines
Production Typed or Handwritten
Subject / Theme Any Subject
1st Prize $300
2nd Prize $100
3rd Prize $50
OPEN SHORT STORY COMPETITION CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
- Theme: Australian Life In All Its Diversity.
- Length: Not more than 5,000 words
- Reward: Prize Money: 1st Prize – $15,000, 2nd Prize – $3,000, 3rd Prize – $2,000
LaTrobe University Shepparton Residency*, Publication of selected works in an annual publication
- Registration opens: February 1st, 2024
- Closing date for entriesuesday: April 30th, 2024
1. Entrants must be 18 years or more at the closing date of the competition.
2. Authors must be Australian citizens and/or current Australian residents.
3. All works must be in English, typed in 12-point sized font, 1.5 spaced using Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri (or similar plain font).
4. Entries must be original work and the author's own work.
5. There is a limit of two entries per person (including anyone writing under a pseudonym).
6. Any entries submitted for this competition should not simultaneously be entered or under consideration for any other competition or award.
7. Entries must not have won a previous award or competition.
8. Entries must be unpublished at the time of submission and remain unpublished until after the winner is notified at the awards ceremony at the end of July 2024. Publication includes in print or any type of online publication.
9. Entries are submitted unencumbered/unrestricted, with full first publication rights available to the Furphy Literary Award and/or nominated publisher. Copyright remains with the author.
10. Any entry may be published by a Furphy Literary Award authorised publisher with current payment for inclusion in a Furphy Literary Award anthology being a one-off payment of $250.00.
11. The author’s name, biography and image may be used in marketing and publicity materials associated with the Furphy Literary Award, and the author will be expected to participate in media interviews, speaking engagements and publicity as required.
12. To preserve anonymity and the 'blind' judging process, uploaded manuscripts must only contain the title and text of the entry/story - any other personal identification (e.g. the author's name) relating to the entrant must not appear on the manuscript including in the header or footer. The author's name must not appear in the digital file. The filename of the entry being uploaded to Submittable must be the name/title of the entry/story.
13. In all matters relating to conditions of entry, the decision of the organisers / Furphy Literary Award is final. In all matters relating to judging of the Furphy Literary Award, the decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
14. The judges will not be required to make an award if they do not consider the entries to be of sufficient standard.
15. Any entries that are considered by the Furphy Literary Award - in its absolute discretion - to be of an offensive nature, will be rejected.
16. Shortlisted writers only will be notified.
17 Writing may be works of fiction or narrative non-fiction.
18. Length: Not more than 5,000 words.
19. Theme: Australian Life In All Its Diversity
20. Closing date for entries: Entries must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by 11:59pm, Tuesday 30th April 2024 via the following link – www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au
21. All entries must follow the online registration and submission process.
22. The winner of the 2024 Furphy Literary Award will be announced in July 2024 and published on www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au