The winners of the Junior and Youth Furphy Literary Awards 2026 gathered together.
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Budding young writers from across the Goulburn Valley have been recognised at the Junior and Youth Furphy Literary Awards, with winners announced at Shepparton Library on Sunday, July 26.
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More than 150 students, teachers, family members and friends gathered to celebrate the region’s emerging literary talent across four categories: Junior Short Story and Junior Poetry for writers aged 12 and under, and Youth Short Story and Youth Poetry for writers aged 13 to 17.
About 300 entries were submitted to the competition, which is open to young people from across the Goulburn Valley.
In the junior categories, home-schooled student Milo Rose won the poetry award for Darkness, while Octavia Ford from Shepparton Christian College took home first prize for her short story Prince.
In the youth section, Haya Al-Bajalan from Goulburn Valley Grammar received first prize for her short story The Timekeeper and Mahnoor Bari from All Saints Anglican School won the poetry category for They Chose, I Lost.
Junior short story winner Octavia Ford said she had been writing for as long as she could remember and was “thrilled and exhilarated” by the result.
“I soaked everything up, as it isn’t every day you win an award,” she said.
She described her winning story as a fantasy adventure about a prince searching for a princess, who endures various trials, from dragons to tollbooths, before “everything goes horribly wrong”.
Adam Furphy beside winner of the junior short story award Octavia Ford and Sam Furphy.
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Furphy Literary Award co-ordinator and junior and youth judge Robyn Black said the range and quality of entries highlighted the depth of local talent.
“We have some fantastic young writers in the Goulburn Valley,” Ms Black said.
“They are intelligent, curious, engaged and passionate, and also demonstrate that they are informed on current world events, which shows through in their writing.
“It takes courage for them to push themselves out of their comfort zones, to offer up their poems and stories to be scrutinised and judged and to have us celebrate adding their voices to the rich culture of the place we all call home,” she said.
In the youth poetry category, Khaniskaa Kumaran placed second and Charvitha Jyothi third.
Alyx Thompson received second place in the youth short story section, while Saeesha Golhar finished third.
In the junior poetry category, Lill Narrazee was awarded second place, with Errol Rose and Louisa Brown sharing third place.
Reyansh Phutane placed second in the junior short story category, while Aira Alam and Harper Gilbert shared third.
First-place winners received $300, second-place recipients were awarded $100 and third-place winners received $50.
