2025 Fresh Ink Prize now open

Newcastle Writers Festival is inviting emerging writers living in regional NSW to submit to the 2025 Fresh Ink Emerging Writers Prize. The prize seeks to elevate marginalised voices and acknowledges the challenges faced by writers in remote and regional areas.

Thanks to the support of Newcastle business Fourth Wave Wine via its label Elephant in the Room, the winner will be awarded $5000 to support the development of their writing as well as a week-long residency at Varuna, The National Writers’ House. The winner will also have their entry published in the summer issue of Swell magazine. Shortlisted writers will each receive $250, with thanks to the festival’s Patrons Program.

The judges of this year’s prize are Courtney Collins and Natasha Rai.

Courtney Collins is an author, screenwriter and producer. The Burial (Allen & Unwin), her widely praised debut novel, was published in ten countries and shortlisted for prizes including the Vogel, the Nita B Kibble Literary Award, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and the Stella Prize. Courtney holds a Master of Creative Writing and has taught creative writing in Australia and overseas. She is an Asialink Fellow and a Sidney Myer Fellow. In 2017 she started Ngukurr Story Projects, producing ten short films and one animation series in southeast Arnhem Land. BIRD (Hachette) is her second novel.

Natasha Rai is a writer and somatic counsellor. She is also the co-host of the Book Deal podcast, exploring writers’ publication journeys. Her debut novel, An Onslaught of Light, published by Pantera Press, was longlisted for the 2017 Richell Prize, 2018 KYD Unpublished Manuscript award, and highly commended for the 2022 Ultimo Press/Westwords Prize. Natasha’s nonfiction appears in anthologies on gender violence. Her short fiction appears in Mascara Literary Review, Overland, Verity La, and StylusLit.

Submissions close at 23.59pm AEST 8 September 2025.

A shortlist will be announced on 15 October and the winner will be announced at a special event on 25 October in Newcastle.

There is a $15 entry fee.

Entries will be assessed on the following criteria:

• Demonstrated ability, skills, and creative thinking.
• Viability of professional development plan.

Please read the SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS

It is recommended you prepare your responses in a separate document and cut and paste information into the online form.

All enquiries can be emailed to admin(at)newcastlewritersfestival.org.au