Announcing the Gloria Burley Unpublished Manuscript Shortlist 2025

On the eve of the Whitsundays Writers Festival, assembling some of Australia’s celebrated authors in Airlie Beach, our Festival also celebrates and champions homegrown writing and design talent. The Heart Awards epitomise our commitment to nurturing creativity and honouring the legacy of festival founder Gloria Burley.

Gloria was the driving force in the establishment of the Whitsunday Writers Festival, which ran 2010-17. She penned two books: A Rolling Stone Gathers No Husbands, which chronicled many of her travels, with Gloria visiting more than 100 different countries during her life, and Blood & Guts derived from her exploits as a nurse in regional Australia. Gloria passed away from cancer in 2018. 

Our premier prize in the Whitsundays Literary Heart Awards is the Gloria Burley Award for Unpublished Manuscript.

Our award for Best Unpublished Manuscript named in Gloria’s honour, offers $2,500 for first prize for best original and unpublished creative fiction work. The award sought submissions from around Australia of 12,000 words of completed unpublished stories.

Today, we are excited to announce the shortlist submissions competing for the 2025 Gloria Burley Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript:  

BEFORE SUMMER COMES – Paul Garrety (QLD)

THE BLUE HOURS – Jane Smith (QLD)

PARALLEL LIVES – Lee McKerracher (NSW)

EL BRACERO – T. L. Jones (VIC)

CELEBRITY SKIN – Melanie Wild (QLD)

The first prize will be announced at our Whitsundays Writers Festival event on September 12th at the Whitsunday Sailing Club in Airlie Beach from 6PM, sponsored by the Roderick Centre for Australian Literature and Creative Writing at James Cook University.

Congratulations to our shortlisted Authors.