Sponsored by Trinity College at the University of Melbourne and supporters, the Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers, established in 2014 and now in its ninth year, recognises the talent of young Indigenous writers across Australia.

First prize includes $5000, an optional writing residency at Trinity College, and publication of the successful piece in Overland. The prize alternates between poetry and short fiction each year.

In 2024, first prize will be awarded to the best poem up to 88 lines by an Indigenous writer who is 35 years or younger at the closing date of the competition. A runner-up prize may also be awarded.

After careful consideration, judges Karen Wyld and Eugenia Flynn have selected five outstanding poems to form this year’s Nakata Brophy Prize shortlist!

Congratulations to the following poets:

Georgia Malu

Miwi

Miwi is a term taught to me by my akka to describe a feeling of spiritual solidarity and union, this poem is about our fight for land rights and constitutional recognition alongside Aboriginal Australians, for all First Nations people.

Georgia Malu is a proud Torres Strait Island woman from the clans of Umu Mere and Umai Lag. She incorporates language passed down to her from her beautiful aunties into her poetry, which she writes for them. Georgia is an editor residing in Naarm, she is passionate about Torres Strait Islander representation in all spaces.

Bebe Oliver

Once, as it is

‘Once, as it is’ forms an homage to my mother and my grandmother, their stories, my heritage and myself. 

Bebe Oliver is a Bardi Jawi award-winning author, poet and illustrator. His highly celebrated and widely published work encompasses love, loss, identity, Aboriginal and gay existence, place and Country.

Sharleigh Crittenden

Narrowboats

‘Narrowboats’ explores complicated grief and its intersection with mental health through iterative narration and a rhythmic structure that both mimics and recreates the poem’s central image.

Sharleigh Crittenden is a Wiradjuri writer and mother living on Wangal country. In 2023 her short story ‘River Fish’ won the inaugural First Nations Storytelling Prize. She is the recipient of a 2023 Magabala Creative Grant from Magabala Books and a 2024 Varuna First Nations Fellowship for her debut novel.

Mia Thom

gather

‘gather’, a remembering of an early morning ride across Naarm’s cityscape embodies the intersectional responsibilities and  tensions I feel as a Bundjalung woman living away from Country. 

Mia Thom is a Bundjalung woman living and studying from within Wurundjeri Country. With a history in climate activism, her current work as a youth mentor centres cultural revitalisation and reclamation.

Yasmin Smith

Dawning in the Rivulet of My Father’s Mourning

A deeply personal poem set on Toonooba (Darumbal Country) that reels together grief, loss and language.

Yasmin Smith is a poet and editor of South Sea Islander, Kabi Kabi, Northern Cheyenne and English heritage. She is currently UQP series editor of the First Nations Classics and works across fiction, non-fiction, children’s books and poetry.

Congratulations again to the above poets! The final results of this year’s prize will be announced in late October. The winning poem will be published in Overland‘s upcoming print edition.