Regional writing shines and young adult novels dominate Fogarty Literary Award shortlist
Four writers are set to take centre stage at the Government House Ballroom this June when we announce the 2025 Fogarty Literary Award winner.
They are in the running to receive a cash prize of $20,000 from the Fogarty Foundation, a publishing contract with Fremantle Press and a $1500 writing fellowship from Centre for Stories.
The shortlisted writers in alphabetical order by surname are:
Jessica Baker (Kununurra) for Out There, In Here
Seth Malacari (Dianella) for Boy Friends
Serena Moss (Waggrakine) for Wreckage
Chuckie Raven (Nollamara) for Glimmers in the Sea Glass
Fremantle Press publisher and Fogarty Literary Award judge Georgia Richter said she was struck by the way all four stories were born of the regions, ‘Two of the writers are based in regional WA – the North West and Midwest. Stories are set in the Wheatbelt, the Great Southern, the South West, and Northern NSW. Plotwise, it does make sense to set a novel in a small community, but the rendering of place in each of the shortlisted works also celebrates regional Australia – our differences and the many things we have in common.’
In 2025 over a third of the 38 manuscripts entered were young adult novels. Richter said the prevalence of this category was reflected in the shortlist. She said ‘Jessica Baker’s coming of age novel Out There, In Here will reverberate with the many young adults navigating relationships and the challenges posed when boundaries become porous. Serena Moss’s Wreckage opens up the possibility for bigger conversations about how small-town culture can literally be a car wreck – and how one might recover in its aftermath. There is more bonding under the hood of a Mustang in Chuckie Raven’s Glimmers in the Sea Glass. Here, parallel narratives take us into the experiences of what it meant to grow up queer in the 2000s versus what it is like today. Finally, Seth Malacari’s affirming queer romance novel sees two people wondering if it is possible to fall in love all over again, under the camera gaze of a reality show.’
Three novels were also highly commended by the judging panel, which consisted of Fremantle Press publishers Georgia Richter and Cate Sutherland, Fogarty winner and writer Brooke Dunnell, and Centre for Stories Program Coordinator Camila Egusquiza Santa Cruz. They were: Kayla Browne for Dark Red, Patrick Marlborough for Wagger’s Shamploo andElliott Stone for Encore, Encore.
The Fogarty Literary Award is a biennial prize for an unpublished manuscript by a Western Australian author aged between 18 and 35 for a work of fiction, narrative non-fiction or young adult fiction. It is designed to encourage and support young and emerging writers to share the many and varied stories that bind our community together.
Since the award commenced in 2019, it has attracted 145 entries, and eleven authors longlisted or shortlisted have gone on to be published. Several of these authors have since been acknowledged by major prizes elsewhere, including Michael Burrows, whose novel Where the Line Breaks also won the Sydney Morning Herald / Age Best Young Novelist Award, and shortlisterJoshua Kemp, who won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Fiction.
The Fogarty Foundation has committed to supporting the prize for a further six years in what continues to be the only award exclusively for young Western Australian writers. Annie Fogarty, AM, said she was excited to meet the shortlisted writers. ‘Announcing the winner is thrilling because I know I’m introducing them to an existing community of talented, generous and engaging storytellers based in Western Australia.’
The 2025 Fogarty Literary Award winner will be announced at a free community event at Government House Ballroom on Tuesday 3 June 2025. The winning manuscript will be scheduled for publication in 2026 with a tour planned to coincide with the book’s release.
About the shortlist
Jessica Baker’s coming-of-age novel Out There, In Here is an authentic and refreshing read. Set in Brisbane and northern NSW, the novel tackles themes like consent, male validation, and depression. What begins as a seemingly simple narrative focussed on the lives of two sisters unfolds into a raw, emotionally resonant journey of self. A quiet but powerful story that many young adults will see themselves in.
Jessica Baker (she/her) is a writer based in Kununurra, WA. Her work explores abstract concepts like consent and love, and the intricacies of human emotion. She commenced her career as a journalist in 2020, transitioning into court and crime reporting before moving to the UK and worked as a foreign news reporter until 2024. When Jessica is not writing, she works as a marketing and media officer and spends time exploring the dramatic landscapes of the northwest.
Seth Malacari’s queer YA romance, Boy Friends, is a refreshing and upbeat exploration of first love, self-discovery and reality TV. Set between the Great Southern coastal towns of Denmark and Walpole, the first-person narrative is full of insightful observations and wry self-reflection, charting the highs and lows, and the beauty and pain of forming meaningful bonds and finding your true self in early adulthood.
Seth Malacari (he/they) is a nonbinary trans masculine author and editor living in Dianella, WA. He edited the anthology, An Unexpected Party (Fremantle Press, 2023), featuring stories from emerging authors from the LGBTQIA+ community. Their work has been published in various anthologies, including Head Under Water, Ourselves: 100 Micro Memoirs and Emergence: SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition. Seth is currently undertaking a creative writing PhD at UWA.
The YA novel Wreckage by Serena Moss is striking for its spare style and rendering of small-town life. Wreckage is a compelling story based on the reclamation of one character’s agency after a life implosion. Moss’s YA novel, set in the Wheatbelt town of Kulin, often feels reads like a novel in verse – a stylistic choice of fragmentation in keeping with the subject matter when golden boy Carter Reynolds takes fate into his own hands – and the life of his best mate too.
Serena Moss (she/her) grew up in WA’s Wheatbelt, and now lives in Waggrakine, WA, north-east of Geraldton. Her work explores the intersections of grief, disability, and small-town legacy. Serena writes from sheds, servo cafes, and the backseat of her Nan’s car while waiting for her between medical appointments. She believes in messy boys, wild girls, and fiction that starts after the worst thing has already happened. Wreckage is her debut novel.
Chuckie Raven’s queer YA novel Glimmers in the Sea Glass takes us from the oppressive silence of small towns to the locked wards of a children’s hospital, immersing us in the lives of two young protagonists separated by twenty years. This engrossing page-turner pulls the reader deep into the heart-wrenching, heartwarming rollercoaster lives of its characters.
Chuckie Raven (they/them) is a youth worker and craftsperson living in Nollamara, WA. They’re the founder and lead of the Perth Pride Shed, Perth’s first LGBTQIA+ community shed. They are passionate about protecting queer kids and, through their work with The Freedom Centre, have met many brilliant young minds who give them endless hope for the future. Chuckie writes stories they wished they’d had growing up. Their debut novel Glimmers in the Sea Glass is born out of their own queer experience and their family’s experience of living in WA’s South West.
The complete Judges’ Report is available to download here.
About the sponsors
Fogarty Foundation was established by Brett and Annie Fogarty in 2000 to support and provide educational and leadership opportunities for young people across the spectrum of the Western Australian community. As well as partnering with a range of organisations, the Foundation has initiated its own programs that include the UWA Fogarty Scholarship Program, CoderDojo WA and Fogarty EDvance.
Founded in 2015 by John and Caroline Wood, Centre for Stories is a vibrant and inclusive literary arts and cultural organisation that uses storytelling to grow skills and confidence, inspire understanding and promote community cohesion.
Fremantle Press is an independent book publisher, based in Western Australia, and embedded in the Australian cultural landscape. Charged with giving voice to Western Australian writers and bringing stories about this place to the world, the Press has published more than a thousand titles and has launched the careers of an extraordinary number of diverse, award-winning and bestselling storytellers, including Indigenous writers and artists.