Writing Prize

The Voiceless Writing Prize sponsored by Australian Ethical Investment is one of the most lucrative short story and non-fiction competitions in Australia.  Open to Australian citizens and permanent residents aged 18 and over, the Prize invites fiction and non-fiction pieces of 5000 - 10,000 words, published or unpublished. Entries must focus on animals produced for food or found in the Australian environment.

J. M. Coetzee, 2003 Nobel Laureate and twice winner of the Man Booker Prize, chairs the judging panel and serves as Patron of the Prize.  Joining him on the judging panel are: Voiceless co-founder and Managing Director, Ondine Sherman; Literary Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, Susan Wyndham; and immediate past Director of the Sydney Writers Festival, Dr Wendy Were.

"There is a rich world literature which takes animals - their feelings, wishes and desires - seriously. As of this year, Voiceless will be awarding a prize to recognise the best Australian short fiction and non-fiction that has at its heart the place of animals in the world we have made."  

J. M. Coetzee

A collection of ten shortlisted pieces was published by Australia's leading independent publisher, Allen & Unwin, as a book and an e-book in 2012. Read more about The 2013 Voiceless Anthology.

The joint winners of the 2012 Voiceless Writing Prize sponsored by Australian Ethical Investment, sharing in $15,000, were Wayne Strudwick for Caged and Craig Simpson for Kangaroo. Strudwick’s Caged tells of the horror one boy faces when he encounters the suffering of thousands of caged hens and his struggle to protect them in the face of indifference. Simpson’s Kangaroodetails the brutal and traumatic death of a kangaroo and its impact on one woman, changing her life irrevocably.

Jessica Stanley won the Readers’ Choice prize of $5000 for Not Long Now, a tale of one woman who forms a tight relationship with a kangaroo joey while recovering from the trauma of a mastectomy, demonstrating the unconditional love of animals and their positive influence on the human psyche.

The ten shortlisted writers all received $500.

The Writing Prize is a unique opportunity for Australian writers to contribute to the growing public conversation on our fellow sentient beings, make their literary mark and win a significant cash prize.

Voiceless would like to thank all of the generous sponsors of the Writing Prize.

Major Sponsor	Publishing Partner	Media Partner
Readers' Choice sponsored by Deborah and Peter Debnam