The shortlist for the inaugural Spiers Prize, which is awarded to an unpublished manuscript for middle primary and young adult fiction, has been announced.
Run by UWA Publishing, the Spiers Prize is a national unpublished children’s fiction manuscript prize named after Australian primary school teacher and philanthropist Gail Spiers.
Due to the number of submissions and Miss Spiers’ generosity, this year two prizes will be awarded – one to an author of middle-grade fiction and one to an author of young adult fiction.
Both winners will receive the original prize amount of $5000 each. From 2026 onwards, the Spiers Prize will alternate categories annually between middle grade (2026) and young adult (2027).
The manuscripts shortlisted for middle-grade prize are The Magpie’s Song by Julia Wakefield (SA), Mabi by Ola Kwintowski (QLD), What Sand is Made Of by Pamela Ueckerman (VIC), A Girl, a Boy, a Horse and a Zorse by Rebeca Green (VIC), The Lost Boy of Divine by Tracey Sloan (QLD) and Bella’s Rock by Verity Croker (QLD).
The manuscripts shortlisted for the young adult prize are Bright Flickering Lights by D. J. Blackmore (NSW), Two Sides and the Truth by Kylie Hannant (SA), One Arabian Girl by Maha Sidaoui (VIC), The Lovely Astronaut by Natalia Hawk (QLD), Flying Hearts by Rico Craig (NSW) and The Girl, The Calico and The Soldier by Zahina Maghrabi (WA).
The judges for this year’s award were Kate Pickard, publishing manager of UWA Publishing; Danielle Binks, literary agent, and middle grade and young adult author; Sally Murphy OAM, children’s author, poet and academic; and Gail Spiers.
The award received more than 120 submissions and the judges said they were heartened by the wonderful collection of tender and honest youth literature they received.
They noted that there were many incredible voices with authors finding imaginative ways to communicate present day challenges to young audiences through a myriad of genres.
Of the shortlists the judges noted the YA entries had strong own voices and creative approaches to issues facing young adults while many of the middle-grade entries explored the natural world and our relationship with the environment.
The winners of the Spiers Prize will be announced in November 2025. Entries for the 2026 Spiers Prize (middle grade fiction) will open again in May 2026.
For more information about the prize and the shortlisted authors click here.