The Mildura Indigenous Writers Award

How the award began

Books+Publishing reported the award's launch in June 2015. It was established by the Mildura Writers Festival with PEN Melbourne and supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. The first round was open to Indigenous writers aged 16 and over, for a poem or a piece of short fiction of up to 2,000 words. The stated prize was $700, with two runners-up receiving $250 each.

Linking a writers' organisation concerned with freedom of expression to a regional festival was an unusual arrangement. It tied the prize to a national literary body while the 2018 result, at least, was announced in Mildura.

Later rounds

The award changed in its details over later years. One listing describes a total prize of $1,200, to be divided among winners if there was more than one. The 2018 award was judged by the writer Marie Munkara, who was scheduled to announce the result at La Trobe University, Mildura, on 21 July of that year during the festival.

Overland's poetry prize judges noted in 2018 that Maya Hodge's poem 'Her Eyes' had been a co-winner of the Mildura award in 2017, praising its treatment of resilience and family and cultural pride.

Status

We have found no reliable statement of whether the award has continued beyond the rounds described here, and this page should not be taken as a call for entries. Writers interested in current prizes for First Nations authors will find more up-to-date information from bodies such as the State Library of New South Wales and the First Nations Writers Festival.