Awards season continues in Boroondara with our Youth Awards and Literary Awards.

In October, we celebrated the 27th year of the Literary Awards in partnership with the Rotary Club of Balwyn. We received 679 entries from local writers across 2 main categories: the Open Short Story Competition and the Young Writers Competition.

Well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to: 

• Julia Faragher – Open Short Story and Keith Carroll Award winner for The Last Day
• Emma Benzidane – Junior prose winner for Ravenswood House
• Gigi Dinh – Middle prose winner for Paper Houses
• Sienna Vrieze and Angela Yin – Senior prose equal first winners for The Quiet Room and Requiem of the Unbroken
• Jessi Wang – Junior poetry winner for Thread-Walker
• Lauren Sisourath – Middle poetry winner for Dim Sum
• Liam Chuen and Chloe Qin – Senior poetry equal first winners for Palimpsest and jan.24/25

Read the winning entries in our annual Literary Awards Anthology available at libraries and learn more about the winners at our Literary Awards page.

And the talent doesn’t stop there. From mentoring to new music programs and advocating for inclusive education, our 2025 Youth Awards celebrated the hard work and dedication of our young people – as well as the many organisations that support them. 

Well done to all those nominated and congratulations to:

• Yong Hao Chan – Creative Arts winner
• Ivy Sheng – Environment and Sustainability winner
• Jin S Li – Junior Leadership winner
• Matisse Stafford – Senior Leadership winner
• Rosie Hilder – Youth Professional winner
• Aaron Oommen – Youth Volunteer winner
• Swinburne Music Society – Inclusive Youth Program winner

You can read more about these winners at our Youth Awards page.