Announcing the winners of KSP's 2016 competitions

Congratulations to all the KSP competition winners for 2016, and thank you to all those who entered. We received a high number of entries again this year, so the competition was fierce. Big thanks to Bendigo Bank Mundaring and the Shire of Mundaring for sponsoring these awards.

HUGO THROSSELL CITIZENSHIP AWARD 2016

(for a year 6 student in the Shire of Mundaring)

Tiegh Windus from Mount Helena Primary School

Left to right: Pamela Power (Deputy Principal), Valerie Everett (Award Coordinator), Tabetha Beggs (KSP Chairwoman), Tiegh Windus (front) and his mum

KSP POETRY AWARDS 2016

Judge: Dennis Haskell (Read Judges' Report)

Dennis Haskell AM is the author of seven collections of poetry, the most recent 'What Are You Doing Here?' (University of The Philippines Press, April 2015) and 14 volumes of literary scholarship and criticism. His new collection, 'Ahead of Us', was published by Fremantle Press in March 2016. He is the recipient of the Western Australia Premier’s Prize for Poetry, the A A Phillips Prize for a distinguished contribution to Australian literature (from the Association for the Study of Australian Literature), and of an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from The University of Western Australia. In June 2015 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for 'services to literature, particularly poetry, to education and to intercultural understanding'. He is currently Chair of the Board of writingWA.

Open Section

First Place: 'Facts and Fantasies' by Damen O’Brien, QLD

Second Place: 'The Fallen Bull' by Allan Mackay, NSW

Third Place: 'Closing Time' by Jan Price, VIC

Commended

1. 'Ape Man' by Christopher Konrad, VIC

2. 'Western Meridian' by Christopher Konrad, VIC

3. 'Some Small Things' by Gail Willems, WA

4. 'October 31 (Samhain Festival)' by Gail Willems, WA

Youth Section

First Place: 'Seven Billion' by Radheya Jegatheva, WA

Second Place: 'Slumber' by Kai Lovel, WA

Commended

1. 'Quartz Corvid' by Tim Kinsella, WA

2. 'Sunshowers' by Malavika Panicker, WA

3. 'Able’s Story' by Kai Lovel, WA

4. 'Homeland' by Daheng Ou, VIC

5. 'The Recurring Dream' by Celine Ng, WA

Bendigo Bank Encouragement Award for Under 14s: 'Is Poetry Dead?' By Kai Lovel, WA

Runner-up: 'Expansion and Contraction' by Tim Kinsella, WA

Left to right: Kai Lovel, Radheya Jegatheva, Tim Kinsella, Tabetha Beggs, Celine Ng

Flora Smith Encouragement Award for an Unpublished WA Poet

First: 'Nunc Stans' by Julia Horncastle

Second: 'Memory' by Veronica Lake

Commended

1. 'Cherry-red Daihatsu Hatchback' by Tiffany Hastie

2. 'Wild Mare' by Julia Horncastle

Left to right: Julia Horncastle, Tiffany Hastie, Tabetha Beggs, Flora Smith

KSP SPECULATVE FICTION AWARDS 2016

Judge: Alisa Krasnostein (Read Judges' Report)

Alisa Krasnostein is editor and publisher at independent Twelfth Planet Press, a creative publishing PhD student and recently retired environmental engineer. She is also part of the Hugo award winning Galactic Suburbia Podcast team. In 2011, she won the World Fantasy Award for her work at Twelfth Planet Press. She was the Executive Editor and founder of the review website Aussie Specfic in Focus! from 2004 to 2012. In her spare time she is a critic, reader, reviewer, podcaster, runner, environmentalist, knitter, quilter and puppy lover.

Open Section

First Place: ‘The Collection Agency’ by Rebecca Lehman, SA

Second Place: ‘The House Without Walls’ by Dimuthu Alankarage, VIC

Commended

1. ‘Greysin’s March’ by Pamela Jeffs, QLD (Read Greysin's March)

2. ‘A Heavenly Mismatch’ by David Vernon, ACT

3. ‘Ringing’ by Norman Cowper, WA

4. ‘Into the Closet’ by Kate O’Connor, NSW

5. ‘The Cure’ by Helen Doran-Wu, WA

Youth Section

First Place: ‘Silence’ by Radheya Jegatheva, WA

Second Place: ‘The Usurper’ by Jacqueline Brown, NSW

Commended

1. ‘Project Purification’ by Megan Vermeulen, QLD

2. ‘Virid’ by Claire Chua, WA

3. ‘Safe’ by Maria Valmadrid, WA

4. ‘Man Versus Machine’ by Louisa Lok, WA

5. ‘Moonlight Escape’ by Eleanor Gibbons, WA

Mundaring National Young Writers Encouragement Awards for under 14s:

• ‘Coal’s Potion’ by Zoe Maes, VIC

Runners-Up: ‘Back Too Far’ by Christian Bria, SA and ‘The Nuclear Man’ by Orlando Bourgalt, WA

Left to right: Kate O'Connor, Eleanor Gibbons, Helen Doran-Wu (back), Louisa Lok (front), Tabetha Beggs, Orlando Bourgalt (front), Claire Chua, Radheya Jegatheva, Norman Cowper

KSP SHORT FICTION AWARDS 2016

Judge: by Susan Midalia (Read Judges' Report)

Susan Midalia has a PhD in contemporary Australian women’s fiction, and has published three collections of short stories: 'A History of the Beanbag' (2007, shortlisted for the Western Australian Premier’s Book Award); 'An Unknown Sky' (2102, shortlisted for the Steele Rudd Award); and 'Feet to the Stars' (2015). She has judged numerous literary competitions, including the WA Premier’s Book Award and the T.A.G. Hungerford Award.

Open Section

First Place: ‘Not jumping, falling’ by Melanie Napthine, VIC

Second Place: ‘Time Passes’ by Kathy Prokhovnic, NSW

Highly Commended: ‘Hungry’ by Melanie Napthine, VIC

Commended

1. ‘No Place for a Kid’ by Julie Twohig, VIC

2. ‘The End’ by Neil Jeyasingam, NSW

Youth Section

First Place: ‘Broken and Whole’ by Wendy Chen, NSW

Second Place: ‘Jelly Sweat’ by Coco Xiaoge Huang, NSW

Highly Commended: ‘Another, Softer Time’ by Joshua Green, WA

Commended: ‘Witch’ by Rebecca Wang, NSW

Mundaring National Young Writers Encouragement Awards for under 14s:

‘The Journey’ by Celine Ng, WA

Left to right: Celine Ng, Joshua Green, Susan Midalia, Tabetha Beggs