Above : Furphy Literary Award 2026 winner Kallum Graves with his certificate
With a record-breaking 881 entries submitted in 2026, the Furphy Literary Award (FLA) is one of Australia’s most reputable and prestigious short story competitions. Established in 1992 with the goal of encouraging and celebrating Australian writing in the short story form, the Award attracts a strong mix of published writers and fresh new voices.
From the highest number of submissions in the Award’s history, a longlist of 95 was revealed at the end of May, with 16 announced on the shortlist in late June. The shortlist reflects the impressive quality and range that has become synonymous with the Award. The 2026 judging panel comprises Anson Cameron, Stephanie Holt, John Harms, Margaret Hickey, Cate Kennedy and Thornton McCamish. The 2026 Furphy Literary Award winner and placings were announced at a lively evening event at the Shepparton Art Museum in Victoria on Saturday 25th of July.
Kailum Graves is this year’s Furphy Literary Award first place winner, for his entry ‘The Magpies Have Unionised’. Kailum receives $15,000, an invitation to participate in the La Trobe University Shepparton Residency, and publication in the upcoming The Furphy Anthology 2026, along with the other 15 shortlisted submissions. Graves is an exciting emerging writer of speculative fiction and is also an award-winning visual artist who has exhibited around the world. His short stories have been attracting attention in recent years (most recently he won the 2026 Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Writing Competition), with a debut novel currently seeking publication.
The link to Kallum Graves’ winning story is here.
‘The Magpies Have Unionised’ sees a local council worker receive a notice of industrial action from the ‘Australian Magpie Collective, Marrow Creek Branch’. As the matter of magpie rights rapidly makes international headlines, local council members scramble to negotiate with the unionised birds for the community. Written with wit and insight, Kailum’s allegorical short story is unforgettable in its delightful absurdity.
The link to the winning story is here
‘The first sign that the magpies had unionised was not the swooping, which was seasonal, but the email. It arrived in the general enquiries inbox of Marrow Creek Shire Council at 8:03 on a Monday morning, wedged between a complaint about a pothole shaped “like Tasmania if Tasmania had given up” and a photograph of a bin with its lid missing.’
Judge John Harms says, “‘The Magpies Have Unionised’ captured me from the moment I started reading. So brilliantly written, it drew me into a world that was totally fanciful yet, before I knew it, I was inside: the world of a community of people within a community of magpies, or vice versa; the world of contemporary local government and fearful organisational processes and decisions; the world of a failed marriage and tricky family life; a world where empathy and understanding matter. It all became so real, its characters so believable, and I began to think within its framework. Funny, insightful, powerful, Kailum Graves’ allegorical masterpiece introduces magpies that (who?) will bring a tear to your eye in a way that magpies never have before.“
In second place is Michael Burrows with ‘Four and A Half Stars’. Michael receives $3,000 along with publication in The Furphy Anthology 2026. Michael was listed as the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Australian Novelist for his debut novel, Where the Line Breaks (2021). From Perth, his stories have been published in numerous literary magazines. ‘Four and A Half Stars’ is a moving and tender story told through the reviews of the books that a couple read together.
And in third place is ‘Saint Kilda’ by Isabel Greenslade. Isabel receives $2,000 and publication in The Furphy Anthology 2026. She is an emerging writer and painter based in Melbourne, whose work has been published by literary magazines such as Island and Voiceworks. Isabel’s short story is a celebration of relationships, the unique Australian landscape and history of Naarm.
The judging panel had this to say about the standard and quality of the entries this year: “The Furphy Literary Award has again showcased the depth and breadth of the literary talent out there in the Australian community. We were enthused by the quality of the stories and happily took up the challenge of selecting the final shortlist and the winner. Given the range of topics and the variety of approaches, we always find it a difficult, yet very enjoyable, process. We’re lucky – we get to read and react before anyone else. In particular, the brilliant winning story won us over. It will lead the way in another wonderful anthology to be published later this year.“
2026 Furphy Literary Award Results & Shortlisted Writers
Winner: Kailum Graves, ‘The Magpies Have Unionised’
Second: Michael Burrows, ‘Four and A Half Stars’
Third: Isabel Greenslade, ‘Saint Kilda’
Shortlisted:
- David Harris, ‘4,3,3’
- Shane Brown, ‘Yabancı’
- Nicole Laursen, ‘Uber Nan’
- Lucy Christopher, ‘Blood Moon’
- Louise Walton, ‘Lice-free’
- Lyn Treadwell, ‘Stingray Morning’
- Harriet Syme, ‘The Absence’
- Naomi Manuell, ‘Fox Bounty’
- David Walker, ‘CoolBarista’
- Richard Boe, ‘The Meat Tray’
- Shaun McMahon, ‘An Unwell Heartbeat’
- Gayle Beveridge, ‘The Kangaroo Call’
- Sally Ross, ‘The Kiss’
2026 Junior and Youth Category Winners
The Award’s Junior and Youth Competition includes short story and poetry categories, written by young people in the Goulburn Valley. The winners and placegetters in these categories will be presented on 26 July 2026 at Shepparton Library.
Supporting Australian writing: The Furphy Literary Award & Furphy Anthology
The Furphy Literary Award, named after Australian writer Joseph Furphy, invites entries of previously unpublished short stories of up to 5000 words. Celebrating Australian storytelling, the Award includes an open category as well as a junior and youth category and is free to enter. In addition to the monetary prizes, selected works in the open category are included in an anthology that is published annually, and the winner of the open category is also be invited to participate in a residency program at La Trobe University in Shepparton.
The Furphy Anthology has won the Best Designed Literary Fiction/Poetry cover twice at the Australian Book Design Awards for its 2023 and 2025 editions.
Previous winners of the FLA include Serena Moss (2025), Kathryn Lomer (2024), Jen Rewell (2023), Cate Kennedy (2022) Thomas Alan (2021) and Ruby Todd (2020).
All photography by Amina Barolli
