The winners of the 2025 Banjo Paterson Writing Awards have been announced, with Shelly Kelly of Brisbane winning the prestigious Short Story category for Kumori and the Day of a Thousand Feelings.
The story gives a deep insight into a neuro divergent world with originality and powerful expression.
There were more than 300 entries for the awards. The winning entries were announced at the Orange Readers and Writers Festival at the Hotel Canobolas on Saturday 2 August, and prizes presented by Orange Mayor Tony Mileto.
Mayor Tony Mileto thanked everyone who entered the competition and congratulated the entrants for the high quality of submissions.
"The judges had a difficult task given the high quality of entries and increased number of entries from around Australia in this year's competition," Mayor Mileto said.
"This shows how the awards have grown in popularity in their 34-year history and pays tribute to the enduring legacy of Banjo Paterson's works."
The Contemporary Poetry Award was won by David Judge, from Bendigo VIC for his poem Soul Search about a range of reflections about moving away and coming back to a long departed rural home.
Mr Judge has also recently launched his poetry anthology titled A Sense of Place - A Septuagenarian's Recollection in Rhyme.
The ABC Radio Children's Award was won by local resident Ebony Inman for the short story The Coward's Peace. A deeply moving story about war that explains why a military man is tried for cowardice with evocative language and literary skill.
Second prize and Third prize were both won by James Davies of Sydney for his poem Glitchwood about a technology driven fake, and the poem Dandelion in the Wind featuring an alternative view of a plant.
The winning entries can be viewed on the Central West Libraries' website.
The Banjo Paterson Writing awards were established in 1991 to honour Banjo Paterson, a great Australian writer and favourite son of Orange, with a competition to encourage short story or poetry writing with Australian content.
