Youth and Junior Furphy Literary Awards

By Darren Linton

Jul 25, 2022

Here for you: Youth Short Story winner Layla O’Callaghan with Adam and Sam Furphy.

Greater Shepparton City Council, in partnership with the Furphy Foundation, La Trobe University and Goulburn Valley Libraries, has awarded the Youth and Junior Furphy Literary Awards.

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The annual Literary Awards promote and extend the tradition of storytelling, both factual and fictional, of Australian culture.

Accolade: Junior Poetry winner Riley Wooster accepts his award.

Entries were open for the four youth categories of Junior Short Story, Junior Poetry for writers 12 and under, Youth Short Story and Youth Poetry for writers aged 13 to 17.

Now in its 30th year, Furphy Literary Award director Sam Furphy said the calibre of entries for this year’s youth categories was once again outstanding.

“We are extremely pleased to see so many local young writers and poets apply for the awards each year as a way to showcase their creative skills and talents. We have some talented youth in Greater Shepparton and we hope the awards help them foster and continue their love for writing,” he said.

Ceremony: Adam Furphy addresses the crowd at the GV Library.

The shortlisted entries from each category are available to read on the Furphy Literary Award website.

Furphy Literary Award director Adam Furphy encouraged locals to head to the website and read the works of the finalists.

“There were some extremely talented pieces of work produced this year and we are thrilled to now be able to publish the writing of each of the finalists on our website. We congratulate everyone who entered this year and submitted a piece of their own unique storytelling,” he said.

City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali congratulated everyone who submitted an entry.

Recognition: The Furphy Literary Award is named in honour of Australian writer Joseph Furphy and celebrates Australian storytelling.

“Congratulations to each of the finalists and winners of the 2022 Furphy Literary Award, thank you for sharing your story. I encourage members of our community to have a read of the finalist entries online and hopefully they will inspire more writers to pick up a pen or sit in front of a keyboard.”