Inaugural Spiers Prize Shortlist Announced

UWA Publishing is thrilled to be announcing the shortlist for the inaugural Spiers Prize.

Due to the enthusiastic number of submissions, and Gail Spiers’ generosity, UWA Publishing will be awarding 2 prizes this year: one to an author of middle grade fiction and one to an author of young adult fiction. Both winners will receive the original prize amount of $5000 each. From 2026 onwards, the Spiers Prize will alternate categories annually: middle grade in 2026, young adult in 2027, and so on.

Middle Grade Shortlist
The Magpie’s Song by Julia Wakefield (SA)
Mabi by Ola Kwintowski (QLD)
What Sand is Made Of by Pamela Ueckerman (VIC)
A Girl, a Boy, a Horse and a Zorse by Rebeca Green (VIC)
The Lost Boy of Divine by Tracey Sloan (QLD)
Bella’s Rock by Verity Croker (QLD)

Young Adult Shortlist
Bright Flickering Lights by D. J. Blackmore (NSW)
Two Sides and the Truth by Kylie Hannant (SA)
One Arabian Girl by Maha Sidaoui (VIC)
The Lovely Astronaut by Natalia Hawk (QLD)
Flying Hearts by Rico Craig (NSW)
The Girl, The Calico and The Soldier by Zahina Maghrabi (WA)

The judges for this year’s award were Kate Pickard (publishing manager of UWA Publishing), Danielle Binks (literary agent, and middle grade and young adult author), Sally Murphy OAM (children’s author, poet, and academic), and Gail Spiers. The award received over 120 submissions and the judges were heartened by the wonderful collection of tender and honest youth literature they received. They noted that there were many incredible voices and leaps of form with authors finding imaginative ways to communicate present day challenges to young audiences through a myriad of genres. Of the shortlists the judges noted the YA entries have strong own voices and creative approaches to issues facing young adults while many of the middle-grade entries explore the natural world and our relationship with the environment. All of the shortlisted entries are of an extremely high calibre and show the breadth of children's writing talent in Australia.

The winners of the Spiers Prize will be announced in November 2025. Entries for the 2026 Spiers Prize (middle grade fiction) will open again in May 2026. UWA Publishing wishes to thank the judges of the prize and Gail Spiers for her generous efforts in establishing an award to support Australian middle grade and young adult authors.

The Spiers Prize is a national unpublished children's fiction manuscript prize named after Australian primary school teacher and philanthropist Gail Spiers, run by UWA Publishing.

More information about the prize can be found on the UWA Publishing website: https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/pages/the-spiers-prize

ABOUT THE SHORTLISTEES

Julia Wakefield

Julia Wakefield writes poetry, short stories, picture books and middle grade novels. Her middle grade manuscript The Magpie’s Song was shortlisted for the Queensland Writers’ Centre’s 2022 Publishable prize, and in March she was awarded the Ian Wilson Memorial Fellowship for emerging writers by the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust.

Ola Kwintowski

Ola Kwintowski is a storyteller, researcher and nature-loving artist whose work explores our tangled connections with nature. Through playful, thoughtful eco-narratives inspired by her field adventures, she invites readers to see the world with curiosity, creativity and care. Her stories have been published in several literary journals.

Pamela Ueckerman 

Pamela Ueckerman is a Melbourne-based author, poet and co-host of the children’s book review podcast Middle Grade Mavens. Her poetry and articles have appeared in The School Magazine and other poetry resources, her debut picture book, Ayla’s Christmas Wish, was published in 2023, and she has two picture books forthcoming.

Rebeca Green 

Rebeca Green is a journalist, librarian and book reviewer. She worked for the Herald Sun for more than 20 years and came across her first zorse (a zebra-horse hybrid) while editing the international news pages. Rebeca is now a school librarian and writes hoofbeat-filled adventures for 8-12 year olds.

Tracey Sloan 

Tracey Sloan’s world revolves around stories, whether she’s crafting them, sharing them, or shelving them. After working with storytelling giants like Disney and DreamWorks, she now channels that magic as a teacher librarian and writer. Off-duty, she’s found laughing with her kids, her Scottish husband, and one very Muppet-like dog.

Verity Croker

Verity Croker’s junior fiction and non-fiction titles are published by Sunshine Books, NZ, and her YA novels are published in the US. She belongs to many writing organisations including the ASA and SCBWI, and has appeared as a panellist at writing festivals. Verity has an MA in Creative Writing from UTAS.

D. J. Blackmore

Sustainable living advocate and mother of five, her debut novel translated into Czech, from historical intrigue to contemporary young adult offerings, longlisted for the Furphy Literary Award, D. J. Blackmore is a 2024 ASA mentorship winner. And as long as she can recall, has been wrapped in the arms of stories.

Kylie Hannant

Kylie Hannant is an aspiring YA novelist who crafts tales of identity, love and empowerment. Kylie finds humans and their boundless scope of experiences fascinating and inspiring. Holding degrees in Accounting and Arts, in 2024 she was awarded First Class Honours. Kylie lives in Adelaide with her canine muse, Maurie.

Maha Sidaoui

Maha Sidaoui is a Lebanese-Australian writer who mines her cultural confusion, sexuality and poor life choices for stories. She writes about belonging, not belonging and all the deeply uncomfortable moments that come with pretending you do. Her work blends tenderness, wit and fearlessness, offering deep insights into identity and family.

Natalia Hawk

Natalia Hawk is a marketing manager and freelance journalist, with qualifications in journalism, law, and mental health. She lives by the sea on beautiful Bundjalung country with her family and a cavoodle who thinks he's human. This is her first manuscript for young adults. 

Rico Craig

Rico Craig is a poet, writer and workshop facilitator. Bone Ink (UWAP), his first poetry collection, was winner of the 2017 Anne Elder Award and shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize 2018. His recent collections Our Tongues Are Songs (2021) and Nekhau (2022) are published by Recent Work Press.

Zahina Maghrabi 

Zahina Maghrabi is passionate about writing and sharing stories that centre the human experience, faith and culture. She has published her work in Cordite Poetry Review, Australian Poetry Journal and was also on the judging panel for the 2025 National Youth Poetry Slam, hosted by Bankstown Poetry Slam.

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