Emerging Young Writers 'Caught' the challenge!

Northern Beaches Council announced the winners of the 2026 Young Writers’ Competition at a special presentation at the Council Chambers on Sunday 9th August. The 2026 theme word was 'Catch'. 

Congratulations to to the winners, runners-up and highly commended finalists and well done to everyone who submitted entries in this year's competition.

2026 Winners and Finalists

Category 1: Kindergarten - Year 2, judged by Ashleigh Barton

• Winner: Hiroko and the Tine Dragon Pass the Test by Isabella Pereira
• Runner Up: Catch by Hunter Geersen
• Highly Commended: We have to Catch the Elephants by Mavi Moon Griffiths
• Highly Commended: Back in Time by Jude Cunningham

Category 2: Years 3 - 4, judged by Kristin Darrell

• Winner: The Shallows by Emmie Yao
• Runner Up: The Counting Game by Christopher Bai
• Highly Commended: I Caught Sunshine by Hamilton Rapley
• Highly Commended: The Worst Game of my Life by Chloe Walstab 

Category 3: Years 5 - 6, judged by Lucie Stevens

• Winner: Catch by Matilda Newman
• Runner Up: When Things Don’t Land Right by Engei Feng
• Highly Commended: Life Lesson 1: Surviving a Symphony of Failures by Georgia Angell
• Highly Commended: The Book that Spoke in Wings by Holly Cannan

Category 4: Years 7 - 8, judged by Samera Kamaleddine

• Winner: Catch of a Lifetime by Jeana Shen
• Runner Up: Caught in a Glass by Millie Williams
• Highly Commended: Warning: This Story Contains a Metaphor by Lilou McKenzie
• Highly Commended: Reach by Eve Somerville

Category 5: Years 9 - 10, judged by Sarah Brill

• Winner: Captured by Georgia Bodill
• Runner Up: The Impact Zone by Joshua Wood
• Highly Commended: Timeline by Samantha Polu
• Highly Commended: Catching Feelings by Sarah Gock

Category 6: Years 11 - 12, judged by Gary Lonesborough

• Winner: The Witness in the Cell by Alice Surace
• Runner Up: The Space Between Orders by Emily Sing
• Highly Commended: The Fog by Noah Gonçalves Ferreira
• Highly Commended: On Command by Sanna Mitchell
  

2026 Young Writers' Finalists eBook

View or download our Finalists stories by clicking on the cover image below. The eBook will also be included in the Northern Beaches Library collection.

About the Young Writers' Competition

The Northern Beaches Young Writers’ Competition is open to students from Kindergarten to Year 12 who live or go to school on the Northern Beaches.

Now in its seventeenth year, the competition challenges young writers to create an original piece of creative writing using a special hero word. Entries are judged on characterisation, plot, originality and use of language.

Entries are judged according to characterisation, plot, originality, and use of language and arranged into six different age group categories.Four finalists are selected from each age category. Winners, runners-up and highly commended entries are recognised at the presentation event, with finalist stories published in the competition eBook.

Past Young Writers' Competition eBooks

Library members can read the creative stories written by previous finalists of the Northern Beaches Young Writers’ Competition.