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Blak & Bright First Nations Literary Festival acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the sacred lands on which we work. We pay our respects to the people of the Kulin Nations and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders, past present and future.

We recognise all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first storytellers; and that knowledge transfer through storytelling is imbedded in the very DNA of this Country.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material.

News
October 2022

City of Melbourne Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards

Announcing the shortlist for 2022

💫💫💫 Congratulations to Beau Windon, Bebe Backhouse and Coral Reeve. As well as their other 2022 successes that include Yarn Bombing for Blak & Bright Festival 2022, they’ve been shortlisted for the City of Melbourne Libraries Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards – Life Writing for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Writers. 

The Life Writing Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers is awarded to an outstanding work focused on documenting, discussing or highlighting a uniquely Victorian story of Australia’s First People. This prize recognises the work of emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and supports City of Melbourne’s ongoing commitment to promoting the richness of Indigenous culture and reconciliation.

Their shortlisted works are:

  • Walking Through the Mou(r)n(ing of a)tain(ted Life) by Beau Windon
  • If This Is the End: Stories of Perpetual Echoes in a Corridor by Bebe Backhouse
  • What even is Language by Coral Reeve

Declan Fry won the 2020 award for The Song Exists in Your Heart: Walking Wurundjeri Country

Monique Grbec won the 2018 award for The Secret Darkness

Beau Windon has also been nominated in two other categories!!!

The Dorothy Porter Award for Poetry

  • Expectations by Beau Windon 

Self-told Stories by Writers Living with a Disability

  • Neurodiverging into He[art]s and Darkness by Beau Windon

The Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards encourage emerging writers living in Victoria and celebrates Melbourne’s status as a UNESCO City of Literature. 

In addition to giving support and recogntion to emerging Victorian writers, The Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Award promotes the City of Melbourne and its libraries as a place of ideas and creativity.

2022 sees the introduction of a new category: Self-told Stories by Writers Living with a Disability. will provide an opportunity for underrepresented voices in media and literature. 

Winning entries will receive a $2000 category prize. The overall winner of the Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Award will win an additional $10,000. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are encouraged to apply for all categories.