Winners of the 2026 AAALS Creative Writing Competition
Winner of the 2026 AAALS Indigenous Writers Creative Prose Prize:
"Country Keeps You" by Kyrah Honner, Birri Gubba and Luritja
Honorable Mention: "Battlelines" by Lisa Fuller, Murri
Winner of the 2026 AAALS Indigenous Writers Poetry Prize:
"Rua tekau tau" by Vaughan Rapatahana, Te Ātiaw
Honorable Mention: "Flood" by Hinemoana Baker, Māori
Winner of the 2026 AAALS Creative Prose Prize:
"Persuasion" by Sue Swinburne
Honorable Mention: "Petrichor" by John A.D. Fraser
Winner of the 2026 AAALS Poetry Prize:
"The Skellig Island Conversions" by Damen O’Brien
Honorable Mention: "The Caretaker" by Michelle Aprilis Vespera
Antipodes will publish these works in an upcoming issue.
Thank you to the judges of the 2026 AAALS Creative Writing Competition:
AAALS Indigenous Writers Creative Prose Prize: Nicola Andrews (Ngāti Pāoa) and Allanah Hunt (Barkindji/Malyangapa)
AAALS Indigenous Writers Poetry Prize: Nicola Andrews (Ngāti Pāoa) and Allanah Hunt (Barkindji/Malyangapa)
AAALS Creative Prose Prize: Raindrop Wright and Keren Heenan
AAALS Poetry Prize: Nathanael O’Reilly and Anne Casey
The article makes the main subject clear without using difficult language. I returned to Crazy Ball 3D and liked the mix of speed, turns, and obstacles. The ball becomes harder to control at higher speeds, so careful movement and good timing help during longer runs.