Overview
The Mayoral Creative Writing Prize is a chance to showcase and foster the talents of Blacktown City’s aspiring writers.
It is open to adults and children (aged 8 to 17 years), who live in Blacktown city.
Entries close at 11.59 pm, Monday 14 September 2026.
Winners will be announced at the presentation ceremony.
Presentation date: Thursday 26 November 2026 at 6 pm to 7 pm.
Venue: Max Webber Function Centre
Level 1, Corner Flushcombe Road and Alpha Street, Blacktown.
Entries can only be submitted online.
2025 winners
Congratulations to the 2025 Mayoral Creative Writing Prize winners and highly commended writers.
The list of successful entrants, along with all their stories and poems, is available to download here.
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Chloe Wang
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Winner
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Ages 8-11
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Poem
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Riddhima Sikdar
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Highly Commended
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Ages 8-11
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Poem
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Willow Andrews
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Winner
|
Ages 8-11
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Short story
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Fabio Bobin
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Highly Commended
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Ages 8-11
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Short story
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Lucas Choi
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Winner
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Ages 12-14
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Poem
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Anysia Mackenzie
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Highly Commended
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Ages 12-14
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Poem
|
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Manha Noufal
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Winner
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Ages 12-14
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Short story
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Sanvi Vanarasi
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Highly Commended
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Ages 12-14
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Short story
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Hadiyah Shoaib
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Winner
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Ages 15-17
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Poem
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Lanet Marga
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Highly Commended
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Ages 15-17
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Poem
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Nabeeha Hassan
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Winner
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Ages 15-17
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Short story
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Amuktha Akshaya Patalam
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Highly Commended
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Ages 15-17
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Short story
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Bea Birett
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Winner
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Adult
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Poem
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Sarah Cupitt
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Highly Commended
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Adult
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Poem
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Anna Bhantana
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Winner
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Adult
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Short story
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Lisa Knight
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Highly Commended
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Adult
|
Short story
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Welcome to the Mayoral Creative Writing Prize 2026. It is open to adults and children (aged 8 to 17 years) who live in Blacktown city. The poems and short stories must be works of fiction.
Categories
All entries can be either poetry or short stories. They will be judged in the following age categories: 8 – 11 years, 12 – 14 years, 15 – 17 years and adult (18+).
Theme
all out
I’m going all out to …
achieve, to win,
to do the best I can, until I have
nothing left to give.
Maybe I’m all out of luck, maybe
it’s time to walk away,
all out of …
puff,
motivation,
and drive.
Or maybe today is the day I am
all out of …
fear, doubt,
and delay.
I’m going … All out.
Judging
Your work will be judged on how original it is, how you have constructed your story or poem, the use of language, (including creative expression, grammar, sentence structure, punctuation and spelling) and the way you have developed characters, atmosphere, or setting or used words in a creative way.
It is critical that this work is original and not copied in any way. Copied or AI generated work will be disqualified. Short stories exceeding the 500 words limit, or poems longer than 25 lines will also be disqualified. An independent judging panel will assess all submissions.
For more information, please contact WestWords: Western Sydney’s Literature Development Organisation, on 1800 937 896 or by email: admin@westwords.com.au.
The total prize pool is $2,400. Winners aged 17 or younger will receive $200 and their school, if located in Blacktown City, will receive a corresponding $100 as an incentive to encourage the budding authors of our local area. Adult winners will receive $300.
Age
|
Categories
|
Prize
|
School prize
|
| 8-11 years |
Poetry |
$200 |
$100 |
| Short story |
$200 |
$100 |
| 12-14 years |
Poetry |
$200 |
$100 |
| Short story |
$200 |
$100 |
| 15-17 years |
Poetry |
$200 |
$100 |
| Short story |
$200 |
$100 |
| Adult |
Poetry |
$300 |
- |
| Short story |
$300 |
- |
Announcement of the prize winners
The presentation ceremony will take place on Thursday 26 November 2026, at 6 pm. All winners and Highly Commended recipients will be invited to attend.