Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

2023 Results

Winner

2023 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Caleb MacLaren from Victoria won the 2023 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with his screenplay The Journey.

This is what the judges had to say about The Journey:

In a modern twiston the Noah’s Ark story, this script follows four companions as they navigate an empty world devastatd by an alien attack. The plot is complex, the cahracters compelling and the dialogue natural. Neither preachy nor syrupy, the story is permeated by a subtle redemptive edge and a clear message of hope when all seems lost. When performed, this ambitious and exciting play will be a hit amongst teenagers.

An extract from The Journey

They make eye contact. Again a moment of tension. IONA is scared of this, and remembers something.

IONA

Oh yeah, I saw this, it fell out of your bag. I think it’s yours.

IONA sits up and pulls something out of her pocket: a Lego Superman keyring. It has lost an arm and is a bit roughed up. ARLO notices it, sits up and impulsively snatches it from IONA. This shocks IONA. ARLO feels bad.

ARLO

Sorry, I …

He catches himself. He decides to tell IONA about his past, something that has been hurting him.

ARLO

Continued.

It was my … our … brother’s.

IONA is intrigued. Beat.

ARLO

Continued.

Me and Max were out … when it happened. We came home to the TV still on, our … family, gone. My brother had this in his hand. 

ARLO starts tearing up and pauses.

IONA

Somewhat comforting.

What was his name?

ARLO

Isaac. Isaac was his name. He never got to live his life. He could have done so many great things!

IONA gives ARLO a hug to comfort him. IONA’s own confidence surprises her. ARLO is delighted. They pull away from the hug and sit next to each other, both facing the water. ARLO refers to the ‘S’ on the figure’s chest.

ARLO

Continued.

The ‘S’ means hope. I like to remind myself, every time I have those thoughts, every time I doubt who I’m fighting for. To have hope and faith, that this did have a purpose.

ARLO and IONA share a smile.

Second Prize

2023 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Elodie Chiha from Victoria won Second Prize in the 2023 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with her composition The Room We Used to Sit In.

This is what the judges had to say about The Room We Used to Sit In:

How do we grieve the loss of those who have hurt us? This poem exposes the raw and confusing paradox of painful presence becoming painful absence. The Room We Used to Sit In is gritty, mature and realistic about God’s healing.

An extract from The Room We Used to Sit In

The room we would sit in is now repainted,
reconditioned
but they kept the carpet we would sit on.
Like the room, you’ve changed.
You’re more blue and spite-ridden too
but now I will live without your taboo.
If we were in a series this would be the end
but maybe it will be renewed.
Then I could still have hope knowing
when one episode ends,
another will begin
In the room we used to sit in.
Now I’ll sit in it with someone else
And hold my faith in a God that heals.
But I’ll still remember the lyrics we sang
with the windows open
and I’ll too remember every promise
that was broken.
The alcohol soaked tears,
The feuds and your beers.
I won’t forget every insult and scream
but as I pass your controller to
someone else
I’ll think of you,
and hope that one day you’ll come back
to the room we used to sit in.

Watch the 2023 SparkLit Awards Night!

2022 Results

Winner

2022 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Rachael Board from Victoria won the 2022 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with her composition To Be Like Him.

This is what the judges had to say about To Be Like Him:

Reeling from the loss of her twin brother, Georgia wrestles with her grief … and his faith. Can Blake’s God have anything to say to her now? Georgia tells herself she’s not having a bar of it! But sometimes people say one thing and mean another. The protagonist’s internal contradictions are realistic and the story’s tone is refreshingly raw. The gradual revelation of God’s loving and life-giving presence in the aftermath of tragedy is thought-provoking and hopeful.

An extract from To Be Like Him

I walked into the kitchen to find Ophelia, my divorced and not-so-commendable mum, working a piece of dough on the counter. She smiled up at me and beckoned me over to take a seat. My steps were slow yet determined. I walked away from the picturesque white counters, olive green splashback and pot plant-infested window and followed the wooden floorboards along the hallway into my bedroom.

I sat cross-legged on my bed and let the tears run down my cheeks. Emotions were strange to feel upon my face, after weeks of blank emptiness. I let the wetness wash the cracks and plaster I had endured for so long. In that moment I let everything peel off to reveal my true self. Broken and lost. Closing my eyes, I felt myself being pulled back to warmth and love. I opened my foggy eyes and fell back onto my pillows. Staring at the ceiling, I read the quotes Blake had often said, only now I knew these were the words of his God.

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

“I am your fortress.”

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

I wrapped a blanket around my feverishly shaking body and rested among the pillows. I may have been there moments, or maybe hours, but when I opened my crusty eyes, I found Ophelia laying beside me, also wrapped in my blanket. My every instinct was to scream at her face but her comfort for my pain was long overdue.

Being loved was long overdue.

Second Prize

2022 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Melinda Herman from Queensland won Second Prize in the 2022 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with her composition Of War and God.

This is what the judges had to say about Of War and God:

With surprising maturity and depth, this First World War narrative processes the futility of war and suffering. The historical rigour is impressive. Sights, smells, painful memories and rich inner monologue populate a German deserter’s mind as he questions everything, but insists on a righteous God.

An extract from Of War and God

They were all victims of a man’s war, soldiers forced into spectres; haunting the scorched earth, blinded by religious untruths, and lain to rest with nothing but the promise of a love guiding them to a world free of torment, of God’s love leading them into a brighter future. 

All the actions he thought too grotesque to return from, all the horrors wrought before his eyes, he shared with his comrades, even those on the opposing side.

All of them, all the innocent souls turned impure, could find absolution.

2021 Results

Winner

2021 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Megan Southon from Victoria won the 2021 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with her composition Daisies in Winter.

This is what the judges had to say about Daisies in Winter

To escape her constant battle with crippling social anxiety, Daisy writes poetry. However, to be open to the prospect of love she must look beyond her secure and stagnant solitude. This mature and thoughtful story explores the internal dialogue of an adolescent on a courageous journey of self-acceptance. In Daisies in Winter, the struggle and the triumph is learning to reach out to God on a daily basis, even when all you can say is,  “God, why am I like this?”

An extract from Daisies in Winter

She was scared. Forced into a fork in a road. Two choices. Speak, and mess everything up. Don’t speak, and mess only a lot of things up.

Don’t speak, she chose. She wished she had the ability to express herself in prose as she did in poetry. No such luck, so it was better to keep her mouth shut.

The silence wove its way into her heart, slowing its rhythm. Into her mind, quieting the voices of failure. A welcome silence. Usually silence only turned up the noise in her mind.

Jack broke the silence. The unusual, awkward safety. “I wish you’d talk.”

His words drizzled down to the bottom of her heart. No-one ever wanted her to talk, to be herself. No-one ever thought there was more to her than meets the eye. He’d seen the real Daisy, somehow, and that unlocked all the doors in her heart.

That was what allowed her to be simply Daisy for the rest of the purposefully slow walk home. She talked. He listened. He talked. She listened.

Safe. It was a different kind of safe. It was beautiful. A daisy blooming through winter.

Second Prize

2021 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Anaya Rajaratnam from New South Wales won Second Prize in the 2021 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with her composition A Lesson in Murder.

This is what the judges had to say about A Lesson in Murder

Marlene and her detective father are hot on the trail of a murderer, but that can’t distract Marlene from more insidious forms of violence among her own classmates. This exciting, defiantly comical tale confronts the true costs and rewards of imitating Jesus and letting the cycle of hurt end with you.

An extract from A Lesson in Murder

“So you’re telling me you won’t tell me why you were pulled out of class yesterday, and yet you still get an extension for the project?” Max was incredulous.

“Yep,” Marlene replied, a hint of sass present in her voice.

“Gosh, I wish my foster dad would do that. He never comes out for any of the school events because he’s always ‘working on a case’. He doesn’t know you or any of my friends exist. He even wouldn’t let me go out on my own, or let anyone in.”

“Trust me, Max, you really don’t want to know,” she reassured hastily.

“Well, despite that, you didn’t really miss anything, except…” His eyes travelled to the back of the class, where one student was making gestures.

“What?” Marlene asked.

“She wants me to join a revolt against Garth.”

“The bully that Mario—”

“Yes, him. She wants to get him expelled.”

“She thought humiliation and being stripped of a place in the football team wasn’t enough?”

Max nodded affirmatively.

“Be like Hosea, Max. Don’t be afraid to stand for what’s right.”

Third Prize

2021 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Joel Simmonds from the Northern Territory won Third Prize in the 2021 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with his composition Evacuation Day.

This is what the judges had to say about Evacuation Day

What happens when going to church could mean losing the roof over your head? This gripping tale follows the struggle against homelessness and danger of three children in war-torn South Sudan. Evacuation Day is suspenseful, confronting and expertly placed in the Sudanese context.

An extract from Evacuation Day

Anger, like fire, it can make and break you. It makes you say reckless but honest words, and once you say them, you can’t unsay them. It all spills out, breaking those around you too. 

“YOU LIED!” David screams at me, Dahlia and Luke as soon as we walk in from church.

We’re busted. Again.

“You said going to church was a one-off thing, and now you’ve gone and done it again! You are all lying Christians! get out!”

“No, not me,” I try to reason with him. Honestly, I just hope that if I stay, then I can get him to let them back in.

“I’m not a Christian, I just got dragged along for the food, I promise.”

2020 Results

Winner

2020 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Phoebe Worseldine from Victoria won the 2020 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with her composition Through Smoke and Flames.

This is what the judges had to say about Through Smoke and Flames

Will Jasmine’s trust in God’s faithfulness survive the furnace of fear and disappointment? This portrayal of a devastating bushfire through the eyes of a child is set in a convincing landscape of suspense and desperation. An encouraging and hopeful story for everyone who doubts and quails while waiting “for the wind to change”.

An extract from Through Smoke and Flames

Mick and Belinda were horrified to see a red glow light up the sky behind their property.

“Those embers must have started another fire behind us!” Mick yelled. The noise of the wind and fire was so loud they could hardly hear each other.

Flames roared across the dry paddocks, trees were alight and embers were landing everywhere. Mick was trying to put out the spot fires as they started, while Belinda kept grabbing more things from the house and throwing them down into the bunker. She felt sick and exhausted. The air was unbearably hot. She could hardly breathe.

Mick came running towards her. “Quick! We’ve got to get in the bunker now!”

Belinda took one last look. The house looked tiny against the red sky. Her heart nearly stopped beating as she watched flames lick the weatherboard walls of their home.

They hurriedly shut the bunker door behind them.

Second Prize

2020 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Claudia Anthony from Victoria won Second Prize in the 2020 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with her composition Hopefully Happy.

This is what the judges had to say about Hopefully Happy

Finley’s struggle with depression during quarantine is punctuated by a growing trust in God’s sovereignty as she reaches out to others online. The author deftly tackles the challenge of writing about a singular protagonist in a digital environment. A mature reflection on the power of writing to foster healing and forge connections.

An extract from Hopefully Happy

The change in me is not drastic, but it is immediate. I begin to notice myself feeling differently about things. Not mania, I know how that feels and this is certainly not it. This emotion is more subtle – a quiet contentment. I know I can face anything that gets thrown at me because I have an outlet. For the first time in forever, I finally have something to look forward to.

And just like that— it happens, a single moment, suspended in time that I’ll never forget. A two-toned chime which can only mean one thing: my first comment. 

‘Thank you.’ It’s not much, but it’s definitely a start.

A week passes and day and night blend together like some sort of Renaissance painting where you can’t quite tell what time of day it’s meant to be. 

And I write. More and more until the words are spilling out of the crevices of my mind and into actual sentences. I write about mental health and body positivity — for we are made in his image. I write about my disorder, and how to live with something you can’t change — Finley’s Top Tips for Dealing with Anxiety. 

I share my faith with whoever cares to read about it. In His word I hope.

Third Prize

2020 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Evelyn Poyitt from New South Wales won Third Prize in the 2020 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with her composition Some People.

This is what the judges had to say about Some People

What impact will your life have on the world? Like the Parable of the Sower, this poem poses a gentle but clear challenge to every reader. The metaphor is well developed and delivered with balanced rhythm and meter.

An extract from Some People

People are like snowflakes.
Some fall on the cold ground,
Trampled and unnoticed,
Melting away, as if they never were.

People are like snowflakes.
Some fall yet never reach the earth, disappearing.
A makeshift cross marks the
Ice-burned hole left in someone’s heart.

People are like snowflakes.
A very few settle purposefully,
So tenderly, and soaking deeply.
A touch never to be forgotten.

People are like snowflakes.
So I wonder

Who

Are you?

All Results

2023 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award
Winner. Caleb MacLaren for The Journey
Second. Elodie Chiha for The Room We Used to Sit In
Open 2023 awards results and judges’ comments.

2022 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award
Winner. Rachael Board for To Be Like Him
Second. Melinda Herman for Of War and God
Open 2022 awards results and judges’ comments.

2021 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award
Winner. Megan Southon for Daisies in Winter
Second. Anaya Rajaratnam for A Lesson in Murder
Third. Joel Simmonds for Evacuation Day
Open 2021 awards results and judges’ comments.

2020 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award
Winner. Phoebe Worseldine for Through Smoke and Flames
Second Prize. Claudia Anthony for Hopefully Happy
Third Prize. Evelyn Poyitt for Some People
Open 2020 awards results and judges’ comments.

2019 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award
Winner. Kristen Koon for Spread Your Wings, Songbird
Second Prize. Sharon Jeikishore for Hope in the Unseen
Third Prize. Lwendyl Anderson for The days and the Years
Open 2019 awards results and judges’ comments.

2018 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award
Winner. Jessica Dinning for The Mirror
Second Prize. Abigail Hewagama for Bella’s Story
Third Prize. Sharon Jeikishore for  Impossible Made Possible
Open 2018 awards results and judges’ comments.

2017 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award
Winner. Tanya Strydom for ‘Sir Tain and the Peasant’s Sword’
Second Prize. Caylie Ellen Moore for Tethered
Third Prize. Jessica Dinning for Deserted
Open 2017 awards results and judges’ comments.

2016 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award

Winner. Annie-Jo Vogler for ‘All the Ways We Are’
Second Prize. Elizabeth Stinton for Meeting
Third Prize. Obed Wallis for Bellum Ex Animo
Open 2016 awards results and judges’ comments.

2015 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award
The award was withheld in 2015.
Open 2015 awards results and judges’ comments.

2014 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award
Winner. Annie-Jo Vogler for Ellesmere Road
Open 2014 awards results and judges’ comments.

Australian Christian Book of the Year

Young Australian Christian Writer Award

Australian Christian Teen Writer Award