Furphy Literary Award Results
Celebrating Australian Storytelling
2026 Results
WINNER
The Magpies Have Unionised
Author: Kailum Graves
Finalists
SECOND
Four and A Half Stars
Author: Michael Burrows
THIRD
Saint Kilda
Author: Isabel Greenslade
2026 Furphy Literary Award – Shortlist
(in no particular order)
Winner and placings announced 25 July 2026
Uber Nan
Author: Nicole Laursen
4,3,3
Author: David Harris
Yabancı
Author: Shane Brown
Four and A Half Stars
Author: Michael Burrows
Blood Moon
Author: Lucy Christopher
Lice-free
Author: Louise Walton
The Magpies Have Unionised
Author: Kailum Graves
Stingray Morning
Author: Lyn Treadwell
The Absence
Author: Harriet Syme
Fox Bounty
Author: Naomi Manuell
CoolBarista
Author: David Walker
The Meat Tray
Author: Richard Boe
An Unwell Heartbeat
Author: Shaun McMahon
The Kangarooo Call
Author: Gayle Beveridge
The Kiss
Author: Sally Ross
Saint Kilda
Author: Isabel Greenslade
2026 Furphy Literary Award – Longlist
(in no particular order)
- The Year of the Cicada – Erminia Villani
- Of Motifs & Men – Cee Em
- Lentil Soup – Hayleigh
- An Order of Inheritance – Chiara M Oates
- 4,3,3 – David Harris
- The Boat at Castle Bay – David Harris
- Yabancı – Shane Brown
- A Wicked Smile – Raelee Chapman
- Boogie Baby – Mara Wahl
- Samosas – Rachel Coutinho
- Porcelain White Girls – Natalie Vella
- Four and A Half Stars – Michael Burrows
- The Burning – Sophia Benjamin
- Life Is a Cliffhanger, Claudia – Jasmine Bartholomew
- Double or Muffin – C.H. Pearce
- Summer Warfare – CJ Garrow
- Maybe Tomorrow – William Stubbs
- Carrot Sticks – Jennifer Kremmer
- Uber Nan – Nicole Laursen
- The Hamlet F.C. – Christopher Fennessy
- The Sea Inside Me – Sally Breen
- Blood Moon – Lucy Christopher
- Silt – Anwin John
- The Recipe Folder – Serena Moss
- In the End, I’ll Tell You What Matters – Gemma Liberto
- Smooth Water – Lawrence McMahon
- Oxalis – Benji Fenway
- Fresh Tracks – Kate Maxwell
- I Remember When – Kristin Remedios
- Clear Line of Sight – Angela Micheletto
- It will be Springtime in the Morning – Emily Trigg
- Not the Marrying Kind – Emily Wigney
- Bread Ends – Collette Night
- Lice-free – Louise Walton
- Needs Must – Gillian Gibsone
- The Magpies Have Unionised – Kailum Graves
- Stingray Morning – Lyn Treadwell
- Mostly Interested In Gardening – Joseph Pfeffer
- The Absence – Harriet Syme
- Fox Bounty – Naomi Manuell
- The Deep Cool – Rebecca Hodges
- CoolBarista – David Walker
- The Meat Tray – Richard Boe
- Sydney – Jing Cramb
- The Last Post – Paul Mitchell
- What Won’t Stay Still – Sarai Mannolini-Winwood
- Forever – Freddy Iryss
- Clancy and the Man from Everywhere – Monica Tanos
- Saint Kilda – Isabel Greenslade
- Mother’s Day – Jed Richardson
- A Quiet Place to Read – Simon Walshe
- The Botanist – Olive Moon
- The Library of Unburned Books – Greg Foyster
- Frances – Odette Des Forges
- Leylandii – Stuart Campbell
- The Names of the Living – Claire Aman
- Shove – Jake Kite
- Marketplace and Punishment – Amy Duong
- The Front Door – Jeanette O’Shea
- The Move – James Hughes
- Pulling Ants from Water – Scout Higgins
- The Reunion – Suzanne Foley
- Hysteria – Melanie Wild
- Pandora’s Box – Iva Malupo
- The Guardian Angel at No. 72 – Sam Cecins
- An unwell heartbeat – Shaun McMahon
- Do You Like To Burn? – Michael McStay
- The Kangarooo Call – Gayle Beveridge
- Helping Out In ’75 – John Anderson
- Avec le passage du temps – Sandra Rutter
- The Deceased Estate – Jonathan Dunk
- The Kiss – Sally Ross
- The Sound of Waiting – Melisa Quigley
- Nothing – Ben Dalrymple
- What Remains – Adam Pettet
- The Missing Part – Hongbiao Wu
- The Topiarist – Gaye Sprenglewski
- Black Betty – Jodie Kewley
- The Other Side – Robin Barker
- Deceased Estate – Christopher Ostrowski
- Special Lucky – Vicky Daddo
- The Weight of Small Things – Jenny Porter
- Bludgeon – Laurie Keim
- The Flood – Nicolas Van Der Haar
- Circa and Vale 1983 – Seren Little
- Whale Child – Elizabeth Walton
- The Journey Home – Heather Holland
- An Urban Gardener’s Guide to Matriphagy – Cristina Cabrera-Ayers
- Untethered – Henry Neilsen
- Up, Up & Away-Skydiving with Margaret – Merv Roberts
- The Sunburnt Gauntlet- Diversity of Australian Life Through the Lens of an Asylum Seeker – Michelle Bertram
- Not Cogno Mentis – Joshua Lee Shimmen
- Mr Murasaki – Simon Rowe
- Aurora Australis – ILonka Guse
- Swimming With Sharks – Jonathan Gould
2026 Junior and Youth Winners
Group Photo of the 2026 Furphy Literary Awards Youth & Junior Winners and Runners-up
2026 Youth Poetry
SECOND
Footprints in the Storm
Author: Khaniskaa Kumaran
THIRD
Stranger
Author: Charvitha Jyothi
Highly Commended
Aditi Xavier: Where Does it Hurt?
Highly Commended
Amelia Castles: Work Harder
Highly Commended
Cedric Pang: Mother Nature's Embrace
Highly Commended
Coen Pang: Snow on the Mountainside
Commended
Cedric Pang: Dances of the Fall
Commended
Riley Wooster: Farewell
Commended
Chloe Doherty: Daughter
Commended
Shyla Fox: Barbie
2026 Youth Short Story
SECOND
The Promise
Author: Alyx Thompson
THIRD
Solo Survivor
Author: Saeesha Golhar
Highly Commended
Lexi Adams: Our Journey 2.0 (my perspective)
Highly Commended
Zunaira Eshaal: Under The Stars
Highly Commended
Zuri Forsyth: Freida's War
Commended
Cara Pearce: To Walk in Cheap Boots
Commended
Cara Pearce: Spotlighting
Commended
Charli Blacki: A Familiar Town
Commended
Asha Birchall: Learning Permitted
2026 Junior Poetry
Second
The Woman Who Carried the Sun
AUTHOR: Lill Narrazee
Equal THIRD
I Think Therefore I Am
Poet: Errol Rose
Equal THIRD
There's Love Underneath
AUTHOR: Louisa Brown
Highly Commended
Evelyn Hamson: A Dust Covered Book
Highly Commended
Lill Narrazee: The Bed That Bled
Highly Commended
Errol Rose: Onomatopoeia
Highly Commended
Sky Narrazee: The Blocky Identity Crisis
Commended
Sky Narrazee: What Is Life
Commended
Milo Rose: Dahlia
2026 Junior Short Story
Second
The Water Tower Whispers
AUTHOR: Reyansh Phutane
Equal THIRD
The Night Jaguar's Tale
AUTHOR: Aira Alam
Equal THIRD
Lost
AUTHOR: Harper Gilbert
Highly Commended
Evelyn Hamson: Forbidden Skies
Highly Commended
Norah Binesh: Journey to the Unknown
Highly Commended
Sky Narrazee: The Awakening of the Sword Aethelgard
Commended
Taqweer Bhatti: The Girl in the Glass
Commended
Immy Kelly: The Last Ride
Commended
Sama Al-Bajalan: The Gate
Commended
Lill Narrazee: The Wolf Who Broke the Rules
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