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Entries for the 2024 Boroondara Literary Awards closed on Friday 17 May 2024. Winners will be announced at a presentation evening later this year.

The Boroondara Literary Awards are hosted by the City of Boroondara, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Balwyn.

Held annually by the Boroondara Library Service since 1999, the Awards celebrate the creativity of writers and poets within the City of Boroondara and Victoria.

Prizes

Prizes include:

  • more than $5,000 in prize money across various age groups in the Young Writers category
  • more than $3,500 in prize money in the Open Short Story category.

Winning stories

Winning stories from each category will be published in the Boroondara Literary Awards Anthology. The anthology can be found at:

  • your local Boroondara library to purchase or borrow
  • the State Library of Victoria
  • the National Library of Australia.

Word count

Young Writers Competition: Junior Category

Open to young people in school year levels 5 and 6.

  • Prose length: between 300 and 500 words.
  • Poetry length: less than 100 lines.

Young Writers Competition: Middle Category

Open to young people in school year levels 7, 8 and 9.

  • Prose length: between 500 and 900 words.
  • Poetry length: less than 200 lines.

Young Writers Competition: Senior Category

Open to young people in school year levels 10, 11 and 12. It's also open to young people not in secondary school, aged 15 to 18 years old as of January 2024. 

  • Prose length: between 900 and 1,300 words.
  • Poetry length: less than 200 lines.

Open Short Story Competition

Open to all Victorian residents.

  • Between 1,500 and 3,000 words.

More information 

For details about the award categories, visit our Enter the Boroondara Literary Awards page.

If you have further questions, email [email protected] or call (03) 9278 4036.


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