The tree is a powerful symbol in the shortlisted pieces for both Places and Young Writers’ Places. Trees anchor us, provide shelter and a place to meet.
All of the winners of the Minds Shine Bright Places Writing Competition have now been announced and you can find the full list of winners, the Short Lists for our two places themed anthologies, the Long List and the Certificates of recognition below.
On 27th April we announced that Erini Loucaides won the Minds Shine Bright Places Prize 2026, for her short story, ‘Relentlessly Prismatic’; the category prize winners; and the Short List of writers to be published in Places, Minds Shine Bright Anthology.
You can view the list of winners and the Short List on the List of Winners page.
Today we are excited to publish the winners and the Short List for the Young Writers’ Places Prize and the winner and short list of the Young Illustrators’ Places Prize. The shortlisted writers and illustrators, aged 15 and under, will be published in Young Writers’ Places Anthology in November.
The Young Writers’ Places Awards Celebration was held on Sunday 3rd May. Young writers and illustrators joined us online and there were readings by young writers from Thailand, Myanmar, New Zealand, the United States and across Australia.
‘The short listed pieces were heartfelt, relatable and authentic with a depth of emotion and thought. There were strong connections with home, school and family, and the shifts and changes that occur in life were explored too. Some writers took us to faraway or imagined places and other writers explored big issues like the future of the planet and the complexities of culture. Character development, narrative voice and rhythm and flow were key areas of strength.’
The winner of the Young Writers’ Places Prize is short story, ‘A Swing of Flight’ by Lila Dymott-Khuong from Melbourne Australia.
‘I’m so honoured to have won, I didn’t even think winning was possible when I applied. My story is about growing up and entering those difficult teenage years and grieving the early years of your childhood. It’s deeply personal to me and I’m so happy that I was able to explore that and have it recognised in such a profound way.’
The Stars of Our Journey, Alanis Hildred, Regional Victoria
The Oaks of Me, Mahlia Owen Marchbank, Regional Victoria
My favourite place when I was alive was in my head, Charlotte Ruan, Melbourne, VIC
The 2 Best Buds, Giselle O’Neill, Melbourne, VIC
Home, Raiven Cole, Regional Victoria
The Daffodils Are Dead, Primmy Kithen, Thailand
Out of Reach, Asma Muniree, Melbourne, VIC
Paengaroa School Pool, Charlotte Hann, Bay of Plenty, NZ
Maylands Peninsula Primary School, Carla Smethurst, Perth, WA
A Place People Learn To Hate, Eaint Chan Myae Zaw, Yangon, Myanmar
The Places We Live, Love and Leave, Muskaan Agarwal, South Australia
When chasing the sun, don’t get scorched, Mimi Murrell, Dubai, AE
Sicily, Kagan Sucu, Hertfordshire, England, UK
The Fight to Write, Kyley Kimbrell, Texas, US
School, Valeriia Fedoseeva, Linden, North Carolina, US
An additional short story, ‘Gindle’s Spirit‘ by Jade Dickinson, first published in Storm, Minds Shine Bright Anthology will be republished in Young Writers’ Places Anthology. ‘Gindle’s Spirit‘ has an enchanting sense of place and Jade was only thirteen when she wrote it. We look forward to adding it to our first young writers’ anthology.
‘We were really impressed by the various interpretations of this theme. There was talented artwork submitted and it was hard to choose an outright winner. All the chosen entries demonstrated a strong, imaginative and authentic representation of the Places theme. Thanks to all the participants for their creativity!’
The winner of the Young Illustrators’ Prize was Vivienne James from Port Macquarie, New South Wales. Vivienne’s painting of sand dunes at sunset will be on the cover of the Young Writer’s Anthology.
‘My inspiration for the artwork was from a time we went camping at Crowdy Bay. Of a night my family and I went down to the beach and saw bioluminescence through the waves and on the sand and the colours inspired me. Each sunset we would go down the beach and we were the only ones there sitting in the sand dunes, so many gorgeous colours in nature from that trip was my inspiration for the artwork.’
In addition to the front cover a second colour image was selected for the back cover. Five line drawing were selected for internal illustrations of Young Writers’ Places Anthology. We can’t wait to see this anthology take form.
Samantha Dela Cruz, Sydney, NSW
Henry King, Diamond Creek, VIC
Issy Spataro, Cobram, VIC
Serena Lee, Bentleigh East, VIC
Irlene Kaur, Diamond Creek, VIC
Alessandra Dela Cruz, Sydney, NSW
We are planning to launch the Young Writers’ Places Anthology in November with an in person launch in Melbourne and and online launch as well. At the launch there will be readings and a ‘big reveal’ of the artwork.
The quality of the long listed short stories, poetry and micro fiction on the Places Long List was very high. Thank you for your creativity and talent.
Each longlisted writer and poet will be sent an e-certificate of merit.
‘The Lido’, Donna Ferguson, Cambridge, UK
‘Resting Place’, Claire Denness, Highett, VIC
‘Glimpses of Sandstone’, Bernadette McLachlan, Adelaide, SA
‘Pretty Day’, Caileen Cachia, Sydney, NSW
‘The Last Job’, Simon Bowler, Los Angeles, CA
‘Seapoint’, Jimmy Hopper, Adelaide, SA
‘Ship of Farewells’, Rebecca Sharley, Sydney, NSW
‘Open Mic Night’, Alfred Johnson, Kellyville, NSW
‘Seaside’, Danny Kamijou, GB
‘Where Sunflowers Grow Underground’, Veronique Booysen, Pretoria, South Africa
‘The Elevator’, Rebecca Douglas, Adelaide, SA
‘The First Time’, Nadia Tariqi, Sweden
‘Copper Coast’, Lans Felby, Claire Valley, SA
‘Clay Angels of Light’, Cathy Farnworth, Cornwall, GB
‘The House at the End of the Street with the Red Door’, Aidan Harding, Canberra, ACT
‘Owing to the Ocean, Strippers’, Louise G. Cole, Ballaghaderreen, Ireland
‘Once on a Winter’s Night’, Denarii Peters, Horncastlre, GB
‘The Hollow Between Stones’, Irene May Pearce, Brisbane, QLD
‘Kingdom Come’, Jamie Castellas, Bacchus Marsh, VIC
‘Trackways’, Soren Taylor, Bathurst, NSW
‘Flight’, Yvonne Fein, Melbourne, VIC
‘Other Animals’, Terri Armstrong, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
‘Love Poem from the Bog’, Laura Theis, Oxford, UK
‘Red River Spaceship’, Leone Gabrielle, Seymour, VIC
‘Place’, Ann Walter, Blackmans Bay, Tasmania
‘Emptiness, then’, Aidan Lax, New York, US
‘El Cumbanchero’, Carlos Echeverria, Miami, Florida, US
‘Imprisoned Silence’, Jamilla El-Omar, Bass Hill, NSW
‘Banjo’, Tara W. Zafft, Saint Louis, Missouri, US
‘Memory Lane’, Alexandra Phelan, Melbourne, VIC
‘Conduit’, Jude Aquilina, Milang, South Australia
Twelve Certificates of Recognition were awarded to writers whose work shone in some way. They may have performed strongly in one of our judging criteria or produced highly creative or innovative writing that caught a judge’s attention. This is the only category of judging where blind judging does not occur. It is the last category to be judged for the competition. In addition to receiving a printed Certificate of Recognition each recipient will receive a copy of one of the Minds Shine Bright anthologies.
‘Their Australia, My Australia, Our Australia’, Salma Alsuleiman, Sydney, NSW
‘Aemilla?’ ,Noemie Ronveaux, Rome, Italy
My Tree Rose Urbani, Perth WA
‘Places we loved and left’, Joyce Fu, Melbourne, VIC
‘Six Kays Out’, Stephen Fleming, Wollongong, NSW
‘Cusp’, Veronica Troup, Melbourne, VIC
‘We are one’, Al Turley, Melbourne, VIC
‘Sunset’, Nhat Anh Ha, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
‘Groceries’, Sam Pringle, Melbourne, VIC
‘Embracing New Beginnings’, Hadi Jafari, Adelaide, South Australia
‘Aldous Bear – Looking at a Rock’, Laura Mattison, Dawlish, Great Britain
‘Love letter of Commemoration, Special Administrative Region Era’, Winnie Tsui, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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