The winners of the 2026 Banjo Paterson Writing Awards have been announced, with two writers sharing first prize for the prestigious Short Story category.
The winning entries were announced at the Orange Readers and Writers Festival at the Hotel Canobolas and prizes presented by Orange Mayor Cr Tony Mileto. The judges had a difficult task given the high quality of entries from around Australia in this year's competition.
Cr Mileto said the Banjo Paterson Writing Awards continue to celebrate the creativity and storytelling talent that Banjo Paterson inspired through his own writing.
"It is wonderful to see such a high standard of entries year after year. Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists, whose stories and poems demonstrate the richness of Australian writing and the power of words to entertain, challenge and connect us," Cr Mileto said.
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.
Dual winners of the Short Story competition section were Sharon Willdin, for Satellites, and Jane McGown for Ergie. The two Sydney-based winners shared in the $2,000 prize money.
Satellites is a descriptive moving story of love, loss and intergenerational grief at the site of a memorial.
Ergie is a fun and entertaining story about an adopted dog and his adventures with Police with a real twist at the end.
The Contemporary Poetry Award was won by Libby Sommer, also of Sydney, for Waves. It describes apprehension and judgement about an emerging relationship with a surfer.
The Children's Award of $200 was won by Alizetta for the short story Between The Lines. The story describes the scene of a pedestrian crossing and bus stop outside a school with clever use of economic phrases commenting on how little we take in about the world around us.
Second prize of $100 went to Gabriel for the poem Dawn to Dawn. It uses wonderful rhyme to convey the various scenes of a country town.
Third prize of $100 went to Lucy, for the poem My Country. It is a powerful poem with descriptions of the land, excellent use of repetition and conveys the significance of place.
The winning entries can be viewed on the recollect Central West website https://centralwest.recollect.net.au. It's a place to capture and share the history, heritage and stories of Central West NSW. It provides easy online access to a rich store of heritage material.
The judges for the 2026 awards were author Rebecca Wilson for the Short Story section, Dr David Stanley for the Contemporary Poetry, and author Brendan Lamerton for the Children's entries.
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.
Winning entries published on https://centralwest.recollect.net.au
