Welcome

A message from the executive director of the Melbourne Prize Trust

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which the Melbourne Prize Trust operates, the People of the Kulin Nation, and pay our respects to the elders, past, present and future.

This year we celebrate 20 years of the annual Melbourne Prize.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our funding partners, entrants, finalists, winners, judges, our Board and staff and the many sector organisations that have supported us from inception. The annual Melbourne Prize exemplifies what collective community investment can achieve to support our arts and culture.

This year we offered the Melbourne Prize for Literature 2024 & Awards and I would like to thank the prize and award partners who have generously supported each category.

The winners across all categories including the Melbourne Prize for Literature 2024, The Writers Prize 2024, the inaugural Falls Creek Writers Residencies 2024 and the Civic Choice Award 2024 have been announced. Please refer to our NEWS section on this website.

This year’s program provides opportunities to Victorian published authors to develop their careers, as well as showcasing the literary sector to the sector. I would like to thank visitors to the Finalist Exhibition at Fed Square, run between 3 and 14 November, and the literary sector whose support is greatly appreciated.

Melbourne is a UNESCO City of Literature, and we proudly promote this valuable designation this year and the abundant literary talent we have in Victoria.

We look forward to offering the Melbourne Prize for Music 2025 & Awards next year – registrations of interest will open shortly on this website.

Thank you for your interest in our activities this year.

For information in the Melbourne Prize Trust click here.

Simon Warrender OAM
Executive Director & Founder
Melbourne Prize Trust

Supporting Victorian sculptors,
writers and musicians since 2005

 

 

News

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Click here to download the Finalist Catalogue.
Click here to view the interviews with the finalists.

The winners of the $60,000 Melbourne Prize for Literature 2024 is ALEXIS WRIGHT.

Congratulations to the Prize finalists:

  • Patricia Cornelius
  • Garry Disher
  • π O

The winners of The Writers Prize 2024, valued at $10,000, is CARRIE TIFFANY for her essay Seven Snakes, which will be published in Meanjin’s 2024 summer edition 83.4.

Congratulations to the Prize finalists:

  • Judith Bishop
  • Marika Sosnowski
  • Jeff Sparrow
  • Beau Windon

Keep an eye on this website for the finalist’s essays.

The two winners of the inaugural Falls Creek Writers Residencies 2024, consisting of three-weeks accommodation at the resort, plus $1,000 cash supported by Readings, are CLAIRE THOMAS & ANGUS CERINI.

The winner of the $1,500 Civic Choice Award 2024, presented to a finalist in the Melbourne Prize for Literature 2024 or The Writers Prize 2024 with the highest number of public votes, is JUDITH BISHOP.

Thank you to the entrants across all categories this year.

All non-winning finalists in the Melbourne Prize for Literature 2024 and The Writers Prize 2024 receive $1,000, supported by Fed Square.

Click here for the prize categories
Click here for the media release
Click here for the judges

 

Thank you to our 2024 partners and patrons – please see below. 

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Support the annual Melbourne Prize.

The annual Melbourne Prize, which is run by the Melbourne Prize Trust, is funded through public and private sector community investment and we acknowledge and thank all our partners this year who have made it possible to offer the Melbourne Prize for Literature 2024.

Click here to support Melbourne Prize Trust

This year’s design identity and website is made possible by the generous support of the following partners.

PLAYGROUND

Congratulations – Playground has won a GOLD medal in Melbourne Design Awards for ‘Graphic Design – Identity & Branding – Community’ for the Melbourne Prize for Sculpture 2023.

PLAYGROUND studios are a leading Melbourne-based design studio. As a Founding Partner of the annual Melbourne Prize, the studio develops the identity each year for music, literature and (urban) sculpture.

About the 2024 design
The visuals created by PLAYGROUND are inspired by literature as an artform—both in the storytelling and letters themselves. For this year’s design, our creative team have used simple words and letters to create a kaleidoscope of arrangements and shapes, each with a depth and dimension akin to the immersive narratives and sensory experiences of great literature.

THE MIGHTY WONTON

The Mighty Wonton are Founding Partners of the annual Melbourne Prize and have been with the Melbourne Prize Trust since inception. The company develop and manage IT for the Melbourne Prize and together with PLAYGROUND, design and manage the website.

Key Dates

Entries open
29 April 2024

Entries close
1 July 2024, 5pm sharp

Finalists announced / Melbourne Prize for Literature 2024 & The Writers Prize 2024 / Voting opens in Civic Choice Award 2024 
4 September 2024

Civic Choice Award 2024 /
Voting closes 

13 November 2024, 5pm

Winners announced
14 November 2024, 7pm

Public exhibition at Fed Square
3 – 14 November 2024

Partners & Patrons