Published in Overland Issue 218 Autumn 2015 · Writing Nakata Brophy Short Fiction and Poetry Prize for Young Indigenous Writers: Judges’ report Jennifer Mills, Tony Birch and Sally Dalton-Brown Judges: Sally Dalton-Brown, Trinity College (Chair); Tony Birch, University of Melbourne; Jennifer Mills, Overland This year, the second Nakata Brophy Short Fiction and Poetry Prize for Young Indigenous Writers attracted a high calibre of entries. The judges – Jennifer Mills of Overland, Tony Birch, University of Melbourne, and Sally Dalton-Brown, Trinity College – unanimously selected Marika Duczynski’s ‘Backa Bourke’ as the winner. Duczynski’s story stood out for its strong voice and richly textured, energetic prose that knows when to withdraw. ‘Backa Bourke’ is a great example of the way short fiction can transmit deep empathy for its characters and offer readers a sense of a complete world beyond the story. The judges also wished to commend two very strong runners-up: Ellen van Neerven’s ‘Cassettes’ takes a common experience and infuses it, in deceptively simple style, with the resonance of many kinds of loss; Jannali Jones’ ‘Ugly Duckling’ imagines the end of the world through an unlikely love story, and shows a writer willing to take risks. Jennifer Mills Jennifer Mills was Overland fiction editor between 2012 and 2018. Her latest novel, The Airways, is out through Picador. More by Jennifer Mills › Tony Birch Tony Birch holds the Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at Melbourne University. He is the author of four novels, five short fiction collections, and two poetry books. His most recent book is the novel Women and Children (UQP). More by Tony Birch › Sally Dalton-Brown More by Sally Dalton-Brown › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 10 March 202610 March 2026 · Writing The role of the committed writer in an unfree world André Dao No, the committed writer is a movement writer. I mean that the committed writer knows that they know very little, and that the way to remedy that ignorance is through solidarity with people in struggle. 1 1 December 20251 December 2025 · Writing With respect to the poor essay Jonno Revanche Style is now a feature that we surrender to a digital pattern recognition machine, which attempts to replicate our own but often falls short, feeling convincing enough but too superficial in its noticing to get to the heart of human concerns.
