Furphy Literary Award

Everyone can write at least one good story. That was the belief of J. F. Archibald, the editor and founder of the famous nineteenth-century weekly, The Bulletin, who invited his readers to become contributors. It was this encouragement that led Joseph Furphy, working in his brother’s foundry at Shepparton, to write his ‘offensively Australian’ novel, Such is Life, using the pseudonym of ‘Tom Collins’. The book, full of stories derived from Joseph’s experience in the Riverina and told in a voice uniquely his own, is now acknowledged to be a classic of Australian literature.

In the spirit of Archibald and honouring the author of Such is Life, the Furphy Literary Award has been established to promote and extend the tradition of story telling, both factual and fictional, that is so much part of Australian life.

There will be an annual short story & poetry award for juniors & youth age writers who live in the Goulburn Valley. Please refer to the table below and the terms & conditions relevant to this category.  

Youth competition conditions of entry

1. Entrants must meet the age requirements at the time of competition close.
2. Junior & Youth entrants must be current Australian residents and live or attend a school within the Goulburn Valley - specifically within Greater Shepparton City Council, Moira, Strathbogie, Mitchell, Murrindindi or Campaspe Shires.
3. Writing may be works of fiction or narrative non-fiction.
4. All submissions must be written in English and must be the original, previously unpublished work of the entrant. Publication includes in print or any type of online publication.
5. Entries must not have won a previous award or competition.
6. Junior entries open Monday March 1, 2021, can be typed or hand-written (and scanned) and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by Monday May 31 2021 via the following link – www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au/junioryouth
7. Youth entries open Monday March 1, 2021 and must be typed and must be uploaded or as otherwise directed by Monday May 31 2021 via the following link – www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au/junioryouth
8. More than one entry may be submitted by each entrant.
9. Entries must not have received, or be under consideration, for any other awards or recognition in any other competition as at the closing date for entries.
10. All entries must follow the online Submittable registration and submission process.
11. To preserve anonymity and the ‘blind’ judging process, uploaded manuscripts must only contain the title of the entry/poem/story – any other personal identification (e.g. author’s name) relating to the entrant must not appear on the manuscript including in the header or footer. The author’s name must not appear in the digital file. The file name of the entry being uploaded to Submittable must be the name/title of the entry/story/poem.
12. The Furphy Literary Award reserves the right to retain all entries, publish winning entries and reproduce winning and shortlisted entries for loan. Copyright remains with the author.
13. In all matters relating to conditions of entry, the decision of the 2 Furphy Literary Award organisers is final. In all matters relating to judging of the Furphy Literary Award the decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will entered into.
14. Shortlisted writers only will be notified.

The winner of the 2021 Furphy Literary Award Junior & Youth category will be announced in July 2021 and published on the website www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au/junioryouth

Participation Time Line

To register & submit – see this link https://furphyliteraryaward.submittable.com/submit

Competition and submissions commence: March 1st 2021

Closing date for entries: May 31st 2021

Please see your campus teacher-librarian for any help and further info:

Wanganui:   Ms Cooney – Monday to Thursday

McGuire:     Mrs Fidock – Wednesday to Friday

Mooroopna: Mrs Bell – Monday to Wednesday

Ms Cooney

Head of Library 

Greater Shepparton SC