Ten Poems, One National Field: Whitsundays Writers Festival Reveals 2026 Heart Award Poetry Prize Shortlist
From 74 entries and a national longlist of 28, ten poems have emerged as finalists for the 2026 Whitsundays Literary Heart Award Poetry Prize; and the Whitsundays Writers Festival says the competition has never been stronger.
Poets from every state and territory entered this year’s prize, and the ten poems that made the final cut show exactly why the judging panel had a tough job ahead of them: intimate personal work sits alongside sharp observations of place and memory, flashes of humour, meditations on nature and relationships, and poems that push at the edges of form and voice.
“The quality and diversity of the field made the judging particularly challenging,” said Festival Director Richard Evans. “The shortlist represents work that stood out not simply because of its subject matter or style, but because each poem demonstrated a strong command of language and a clear sense of what it wanted to achieve.”
The Shortlist
The ten finalists for the 2026 Whitsundays Literary Heart Award Poetry Prize are:
Caught You Red-Handed, Himara Jayasundara (SA)
For One Who Has No Stone To Say, Greg Lewis (Qld)
Night Flight, Anne Casey (NSW)
Possession, Jo Skinner (Qld)
She’s a Beauty, Melinda Jane (SA)
Special, Scott Jackson (NSW)
Spitfire, Richard Pellatt (Qld)
Subsea, Andrea Louise Thomas (Vic)
The Furthest Tent, Scott Jackson (NSW)
Thin, Scott Jackson (NSW)
One poet, three poems on the shortlist: NSW writer Scott Jackson goes into the final judging stage with three of the ten finalists. A standout showing in a genuinely national field.
The Poetry Prize is open to unpublished poems of up to 50 lines, with $1,000 on offer for the winner and $500 for the runner-up.
Judged on the strength of the work alone
Every entry was judged anonymously from start to finish, assessed against consistent criteria covering purpose and coherence, technical craft, originality of voice, and emotional or intellectual impact, with no single style or form given the edge.
“There isn’t a single definition of what a successful poem looks like,” Richard said. “A tightly constructed lyric and an experimental free-verse poem may take completely different approaches. What matters is whether the poet has made those choices with purpose and executed them successfully.”
The judging panel now moves into its final assessment to determine the 2026 winner and runner-up.
Winners revealed at the festival
The countdown is on: the Poetry Prize winner and runner-up will be named live at the Whitsundays Literary Heart Awards ceremony at 12:45pm on Sunday 13 September, at the Whitsunday Marine Club, Cannonvale. The ceremony will also crown the Short Story Award winners across the Open Age and Under 18 divisions, with interviews and short readings from selected writers on the day.
“For a regional festival to attract a genuinely national field of poets and then narrow that field to such a strong group of finalists is something we’re very proud of,” Richard said. “The Heart Awards are creating a space for Australian writers to be discovered, celebrated and connected with audiences here in the Whitsundays and indeed, Australia.”
A full day of Australian writing
The Heart Awards ceremony caps off a full day celebrating Australian writing, regional voices and readers. The program includes the From the Heart keynote from multi-award-winning author Rachel Armstrong, author panels, and Stories by the Sea: a free community celebration with more than 20 regional authors, book swaps, live music, children’s activities and a community BBQ.
Tickets are on sale now at Whitsundays Writers Festival website.