Spiers Prize winners announced

UWA Publishing (UWAP) has announced the winners of the inaugural Spiers Prize as Zahina Maghrabi for “The Girl, The Calico and The Soldier” (young adult) and Rebeca Green for “A Girl, a Boy, a Horse and a Zorse” (middle-grade).

Perth-based Maghrabi’s manuscript, “The Girl, The Calico and The Soldier”, is a speculative story about a family torn apart by a foreign occupation.

“A thrilling and pacy read, from an eclectic new voice with so much heart and soul on the page,” described the organisers.

Victoria-based Green’s manuscript, “A Girl, a Boy, a Horse and a Zorse”, is about a hybrid zebra and horse, featuring themes of fairness, equity, community and environmental responsibility.

Organisers said, “This was such a gentle and important story featuring wonderful discussions around disability and bullying, a truly tender-hearted middle grade tale that children will love, and will be ripe for classroom and family discussion.”

Judges this year included Kate Pickard, Danielle Binks, Sally Murphy and Gail Spiers.

The winners were chosen from the shortlist announced October. Both Maghrabi and Green receive a publishing contract with UWAP and prize money of $5000. Originally, only one winner was anticipated, but the high number of entrants led Spiers to award two prizes. “From 2026 onwards, the Spiers Prize will alternate categories annually: middle grade in 2026, young adult in 2027, and so on,” said organisers.

In the young adult category, Rico Craig was highly commended for “Flying Hearts”; and in the middle-grade category, Tracey Sloan was highly commended for “The Lost Boy of the Divine”.

The Spiers Prize is a national unpublished children’s fiction manuscript prize named after Australian primary school teacher and philanthropist Gail Spiers.

The winners and highly commended entrants were announced at a ceremony hosted by Gail Spiers.

More information about the prize is available on the UWAP website.

Category: Awards Local news