Once upon a time... but not the way you remember it!.
Join us for the ninth annual Moorabool Young Writers' Awards, where in 2026 Moorabool Shire Libraries and local writers Jem Tyley-Miller and Wayne Marshall challenge young writers to take beloved fairy tales and fables and transform them into something entirely new. Open from 9 March to 27 April, with winners announced on 13 June at an afternoon tea celebrating both emerging and established storytellers (held alongside the Peter Carey Short Story Award).
Step into the enchanted forest of storytelling and emerge with something entirely new. The 2026 Moorabool Young Writers Awards invites young writers to take the timeless tales we all know—from Cinderella to the 3 Little Pigs, from Little Red Riding Hood to Aesop's fables—and reimagine them in new, unexpected ways.
What if the Big Bad Wolf was simply misunderstood? What if Rapunzel's tower stood in a modern city skyline? Did the tortoise really win the race, or did the hare let him? What if the boy who cried wolf was telling the truth all along?
Your challenge is to breathe fresh life into classic fairy tales and fables by twisting, turning, and transforming them into something uniquely yours.
Your story might:
- Reveal the untold perspective of a different character, villain or sidekick
- Transport a familiar tale to a
-
- Moorabool location
- different era
- different world entirely
- Blend two beloved stories into one unexpected narrative (What if the Town Mouse visited Cinderella's palace?)
- Give traditional tales a modern setting, where magic meets technology
- Flip the script—making heroes into villains or villains into heroes
- Add your own twist to change the outcome, moral, or meaning
- Challenge the lesson: Was slow and steady really the answer? Is crying wolf always a lie?
Whether you choose to explore the shadows of well-known stories, challenge their traditional morals, or create surprising new endings, in 2026 we are looking for creativity, imagination, and storytelling that reminds us why these tales have endured—and why they still deserve to be retold.
The only rule? Once upon a time is just the beginning.
Emergent Writers Awards: (Must be in Grades Prep, 1 or 2) Prep to 2
Complete the picture prompt. Picture prompt will be available to download here in early February 2026.
4 x winners will be selected at random, will win a book pack prize for themselves and one for their class (teacher) (valued at approximately $50 each)
Middle primary Grades 3 and 4 - short Story up to 1000 words*
- Winner $100
- Runner Up $50
- Third place $30
- Highly Commended and Honourable mention prizes.
Upper primary Grades 5 and 6 - short Story up to 1000 words*
- Winner $100
- Runner Up $50
- Third place $30
- Highly Commended and Honourable mention prizes.
Years 7 to 12 – short story up to 3000 words*
- Winner $200
- Runner Up $100
- Third place $50
- Highly Commended and Honourable mention prizes.
Following the success of the inaugural 2025 Write Where You Are intergenerational art exhibition in collaboration with Wombat Arts Network, we are excited to continue this program in 2026.
Up to 15 students stories will be selected for visual interpretation by Ballan Art Space members. Stories will be chosen based on their narrative strength, descriptive detail, and potential for visual adaptation.
Our head judge of the Moorabool Young Writers Awards, Allyse Near, will select the featured stories, while Wombat Arts Network Inc. will curate and invite participating artists.
The exhibition will be held at the Ballan Library & Exhibition Space opening in September 2026.
Submissions open on Monday 9 March 8.30am (Labour Day Public Holiday) and will close on Monday 27 April at 5pm and will be accepted in person at Ballan Library, Lerderderg Library, the Rural Library Van or online via the Moorabool Shire Council website. Entries must be typed and will be judged blind, so please, no names on your work—just be sure to attach the entry form provided. Each child may enter one story and entry is free.
All winning stories in the Middle Primary, Upper Primary and Youth Awards will be published in a booklet which will be available to borrow from Moorabool Libraries in late 2026.
—Jem Tyley-Miller and Wayne Marshall in partnership with Moorabool Shire Libraries
1. This competition is open to students who live, study, work, or regularly participate in community activities within Moorabool Shire Council.
2. Emergent Writers Awards must be in Grades Prep, 1 or 2 and complete the picture prompt.
3. The 2026 theme is Fairy Tales and Fables. In 2026 entries are open in the following categories,
- Middle Primary applicants must be in grade 3 or 4 and enter a story of no more than 1000 words.
- Upper Primary applicants must be in grade five or six and enter a story of no more than 1000 words.
- Secondary school applicants must be in Years 7 to 12. The story must be no more than 3000 words.
4. Please type your entry.
5. Entries must be submitted in person at Ballan Library, Lerderderg Library, the Rural Library Van or online via the Moorabool Shire Council website by 5PM on Monday April 27 2026.
6. Applications will be judged anonymously. Please do not include your name on your story.
7. Parents or guardians must consent to their child entering the competition.
8. Entries will be independently judged. The judge’s decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into. The judge reserves the right to allocate additional prizes.
9. Entry is free.
10. Each child may enter one story only.
11. Moorabool Library staff, PCSSA/MYWA organisers, judges and/or their immediate family members are ineligible to enter.