Whitsundays Writers

Whitsundays Writers Save the date! Sunday 13 September 2026, Whitsunday Marine Club, Airlie Beach, Queensland.

The 2026 Whitsundays Literary Heart Awards Winners are here! This year the Awards drew 94 short story entries and 74 poe...
13/09/2026

The 2026 Whitsundays Literary Heart Awards Winners are here!

This year the Awards drew 94 short story entries and 74 poetry entries nationally. Each category winner receives $1,000, with $500 to the runner-up: prize money that puts the Heart Awards among the more generously funded literary prizes on offer to Australian writers this year.

All entries were judged anonymously on the strength of the writing alone, against consistent criteria covering structure, technical craft, originality and voice, and emotional or intellectual impact.

Without further ado... The winners are:
📚 2026 Short Story Prize
Winner
Attention Dr West, Kat Ryan (WA)

Runner-up
A Change of Environment, Janet Humphries (Mackay, Qld)

📚Under 18 Winner
Where Dogs Lie Before They Sleep, Mila Kronk (Rockhampton, Qld)

Under 18 Runner-up
Blade of Grass, Elizabeth Olejnik (Brisbane, Qld)

📚2026 Poetry Prize
Winner
Caught You Red-Handed, Himara Jayasundara (SA)

Runner-up
Subsea, Andrea Louise Thomas (Vic)

Read the full release via our website https://www.whitsundayswriters.com/news/winners-announced-2026-whitsundays-literary-heart-awards/

Tomorrow (Sunday 13th Sept) is the day! Stories by the Sea is on as part of the 2026 Whitsundays Writers Festival and WE...
12/09/2026

Tomorrow (Sunday 13th Sept) is the day! Stories by the Sea is on as part of the 2026 Whitsundays Writers Festival and WE'RE SO EXCITED!

It's a giant celebration of arts in the Whitsundays - meet lots of local authors, listen to the musicians and readings on the open mic and watch as the artists from Creative Connections Whitsunday bring their pieces to life right there!

PLUS, swap books (we've all got a pile we've been meaning to pass on), bring hte kids to the Whitsunday Regional Libraries area, grab a sausage sizzle and a cake you decorate to your tastes... It's the perfect Sunday afternoon (bar will be open too, of course!)

See you tomorrow!

Whitsunday Marine Club
Sunday 13 September
3pm - 4:30pm

10/09/2026

It's the first year of Stories by the Sea, so enjoy my quick site brief! It's going to be a great day.

Come down with the kids and enjoy:
- Open mic with local authors and musicians
- Artists creating live
- Local and regional authors with their books
- Whitsunday Regional Council libraries with the First5Forever program
- Book swap ( bring a book or two to swap)
- Lounging and reading
- BBQ by Option Insurance Brokers
- Coffee from Mrs Bean 💗 & The Roaming Cup
- Sweet and savoury grazing cart by Sea and Stone Grazing

FREE entry and all ages welcome! We are excited to see you there 📚

07/09/2026

It's with excitement that we can say that Whitsundays Writers Festival 226 is SOLD OUT! 🎉 We're excited for Sunday.

There's plenty of room at our FREE community event - Stories by the Sea on Sunday from 3pm - 4:30pm. Tell your friends!

If you're still sitting on the fence and haven't bought your full day ticket for Sunday 13th September, then it's time t...
05/09/2026

If you're still sitting on the fence and haven't bought your full day ticket for Sunday 13th September, then it's time to get moving! 📚

We're almost (less than 10 tickets left!) sold out for full day tickets and you'd be really sad if you missed out. 😔

Grab your ticket via the link in our bio.

*If you are unable to use a ticket you have purchased, please let us know on [email protected] (comments offering tickets on this post should be considered spam, do not engage).

Stories by the Sea is happening on Sunday 13th September and we're lucky to have our libraries in attendance! For little...
04/09/2026

Stories by the Sea is happening on Sunday 13th September and we're lucky to have our libraries in attendance!

For little readers Whitsunday Regional Council libraries will be there with the First5Forever program by State Library of Queensland
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚Join us:
Whitsunday Marine Club
Sunday 13th September
3pm - 4:30pm

04/09/2026

As Literacy Week comes to a close Festival President, Richard Evans, has some important words for everyone with children in their lives.

Do you agree or disagree? Have times changed and are kids less interested in reading? Should we be working to change that or embracing YouTube read-alongs instead?

IngramSpark is on the page as a Festival Partner in 2026 📚Does a more perfect match exist? A self-publishing, distribut...
02/09/2026

IngramSpark is on the page as a Festival Partner in 2026 📚

Does a more perfect match exist? A self-publishing, distribution and e-commerce hub covering everything from how-to self-publish to let us do it for you. If that wasn't enough, they are the largest distribution house in the world and can distribute the book you wrote to over 40,000 retailers, bookshops, libraries and e-book outlets, around the world. Ingram Spark have also recently added an online store for readers to purchase books directly!

For a festival that showcases authors at all stages of their writing journey, this is a dream partnership 🖋

PSA: We're down to the last 15 full day tickets for Sunday 13th September! 🎟📚I know there's still two weeks to go BUT if...
31/08/2026

PSA: We're down to the last 15 full day tickets for Sunday 13th September! 🎟📚

I know there's still two weeks to go BUT if we sell these last 15 tickets by Sunday, I'll reveal my face 😱 on the feed too, not just in stories.

Plus, Bosslady will be very happy and that's very important as she's doing most of the organising... I just post stuff to the internet.

So, I'f you'd like to see my (reluctant) face on the feed, the clock starts now. You have t-6 days to convince everyone you know that they need a ticket to the festival.

Program and tickets here: https://www.whitsundayswriters.com/2026-programme-speakers/

Remember the reveal is only happening if we sell out by Sunday! 😜

We love finding out about the authors who join our Festival each year. This year we asked the author's a series of quest...
29/08/2026

We love finding out about the authors who join our Festival each year. This year we asked the author's a series of questions to understand more about their journey from idea to published.

Here's #3 in the series.

Is there something you'd like to know about our authors before Sunday 13th? DM us or drop your questions in the comments!

This year's festival is getting close, if you haven't secured a ticket head to the link in our bio and get yours for only $59.

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Airlie Beach, QLD

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