Sponsored by Trinity College at the University of Melbourne, 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 has been 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. Two runners-up prizes have also been awarded.

After careful consideration, judges Karen Wyld and Eugenia Flynn have selected first place and two runners-up to form the final results of this year’s Nakata Brophy Prize! Congratulations to Yasmin Smith, Mia Thom and Georgia Malu.

FIRST PLACE

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.

RUNNERS-UP

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.

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.

Congratulations again to the above poets! The winning poem will be published in Overland soon.